Russell Admitted Luck Was On Mercedes's Side In Last Race Of 2023 Season
F1Tuesday, 28 November 2023 at 06:00
Mercedes F1 driver George Russell said the luck he had during the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix "more than made up" for previous unlucky races this year.
The 2023 season hasn't been the strongest season for George Russell, who finished the Drivers' Championship in eighth place, five positions behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The 25-year-old had multiple on-track incidents involving other drivers, like in Azerbaijan, Qatar, or Las Vegas, but also crashed his car by his own mistake during the Canadian and Singapore Grand Prix.
Going into the last race of the 2023 season, the fate of the Mercedes team in the Contractors' Championship was more or less in Russell's hands as he started from the P4 while Lewis Hamilton started from P11.
The goal of George Russel was to ideally finish in front of Charles Leclerc, who started from second place on the grid, but it was also enough for him to finish right behind the Ferrari driver, which he managed to achieve in the end.
The Mercedes F1 driver redeemed himself after the tough season with a finish on a high, scoring his second podium in 2023 and securing second place in the Championship for his team. He told the media:
“"Yeah, it was a great weekend. I'm really pleased to finish on this high because it's been a really challenging season."”
Russell was in control of the pace, running in third place a few laps before the end of the race, and he needed to finish third in order to secure the Championship for his team.
However, things complicated for the 25-year-old when Sergio Perez appeared in his rearview mirrors, caught up and then overtook him.
Under normal circumstances, that would end Mercedes' chances for the second place in the Championship, but the Mexican driver had a five-second penalty which pushed him behind the Mercedes driver after crossing the finish line.
The five-second penalty basically helped Russell finish third, and the 25-year-old thinks it more than made up for all his previous bad lack this season:
“"So, you know, lady luck maybe on our side slightly today with Checo’s penalty but I think that more than made up for the other races this year."”
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