Russell Dismisses Criticism After One Of Toughest Races In His Career

Tuesday, 26 December 2023 at 08:00

George Russell hit back at criticism from former F1 drivers after the challenging 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.

Multiple F1 drivers named the Qatar Grand Prix as the toughest race in their career. The race turned out to be a lot warmer and humid than expected which caused problems for many.

Esteban Ocon called the race toughest ever as he confessed he was dizzy after a few laps and vomited during the race. Williams driver Logan Sargeant didn't even finish the race due to feeling unwell.

Many others complained and called for changes after the race. On the other hand, some Former F1 drivers criticized the current ones for being too weak, and to them, George Russell responded:

"The guys who are commenting on this, we're driving 20 seconds a lap faster than they were going, pulling 5G in every single aspect, and of course we need to be gladiators."

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The Mercedes driver took the Qatar World Cup as an example. The football Championship took place a year earlier under the same conditions, but some measures were put into place to ensure players' safety.

"If you take the Qatar World Cup, due to the heat, they added three-minute water breaks twice throughout the games. They have their 15 minute half-time break, and we're driving flat out for 90 minutes on a super high-speed and high downforce circuit with temperature and humidity that was through the roof."

The 25-year-old mentioned he did not have too many problems as he prepares for the hot races training in three layers of clothes and with a huge amount of saunas.

"My recovery was pretty straightforward because for anyone who's been in a sauna before, at one point, you feel like you need to get out of there because you're about to burn."

On the other hand, Russell shared he knew about drivers who suffered a heatstroke, which can be quite dangerous, especially in Formula 1.

"But once you spend five or 10 minutes afterwards, cooling down, you feel okay, but I know some drivers who suffered with heatstroke, they were ill for the week following as well."