Russell Issues Update After Heavy Crash In Second Practice Session

F1
Saturday, 26 October 2024 at 14:00
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George Russell said he felt a bit "winded" as he discussed his heavy crash from the second practice session ahead of the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Mercedes F1 driver George Russell had a pretty decent start to Friday in Mexico City as he topped the timing sheets in the first practice session.
However, the second session did not go so well for him. The 26-year-old lost the rear of his car as it started bouncing through turn number eight and slid into the barrier on the outside of the following turn (number nine).
Russell hit the Tecpro barrier at a pretty high speed, and although he looked like he was fine, he was taken to the hospital for medical checks. He told the media afterward:
"I'm okay. I feel a bit winded after that one. Honestly, I don't really know what happened."
"The car just started bouncing along the ground, and before I even had a chance to catch it, it was already spinning."
The British F1 driver could not understand what exactly happened as he said he went for the exact same line as he did during the first practice session.
"I tried to take the same line in cutting that corner, and for whatever reason, on this occasion in FP2, the thing just started going on me."
"A lot of work for the guys again. It seems like it's just one thing after another at the moment. It's frustrating because in FP1 we were really strong, really fast."
Although Russell did miss out on a major part of the FP2 session, he won't have to regret it that much, as it mainly served as a Pirelli tire test, and the F1 teams didn't get as much valuable data from it either way. The Mercedes F1 driver added:
"I obviously missed out on laps, so FP3 is going to be important. I just hope we can get the car fixed."