Russell Changes Opinion About 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix After The Race

Tuesday, 21 November 2023 at 12:00

After finishing the race, Mercedes driver George Russell changed his mind on the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

F1 driver George Russell started the Las Vegas race from the third position behind Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc after a successful qualifying session on Saturday.

The Mercedes driver shared his concerns in relation to the Grand Prix following the qualifying session, as he said he did not think any of the teams really knew how to approach the cold track conditions.

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His apprehensions partially materialized in turn one of the first lap of the race when multiple drivers misjudged their breaking points, which resulted in a bit of carnage. But Russell told the media the race was better than he anticipated:

"It's been quite surreal being here and seeing everything that's going on. The track was actually a lot better to drive than I anticipated."

The Las Vegas Strip Circuit received a lot of criticism from multiple drivers ahead of the Grand Prix. Max Verstappen mentioned he did not expect a racing spectacle from the track layout.

Charles Leclerc made a funny remark about the track, saying it looked like a pig turned upside down. Russell mentioned the "basic" looking layout turned out to be "really challenging".

"It looks pretty basic from the track map, but it's actually got quite a lot of character and is a really challenging circuit to drive."

As opposed to other drivers like Esteban Ocon, who said the slipstream and DRS made it easy and enjoyable to overtake, the Mercedes driver shared a different experience.

"That was the nature of a low-downforce circuit, the slipstream really isn't that substantial. I don't know how many overtakes were in the race, but it wasn't straightforward to pass."

The British driver finished the race in P8 behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton after dropping four positions as a result of the five-second penalty for a collision with Verstappen.