George Russell (Mercedes) amazed, Mercedes in green / Formula 1

Mercedes partner Petronas is celebrating 50 years of company existence. For this reason, the cars of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will not be painted in silver as usual in Singapore, but in the special green of the Malaysian oil and gas manufacturer.

On another issue, George Russell is currently not seeing things in a positive light, but rather in a negative light. But first things first.

After the crash of Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz, George Russell unexpectedly achieved a podium finish in Baku – third place behind Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

The 26-year-old Mercedes driver Russell later touched on a hot topic as a representative of the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers' Association) – the Formula 1 drivers are dissatisfied with the tires from series supplier Pirelli.

Two-time GP winner Russell said: “It was another very strange race in terms of tyre management. I mean, in the first part of the race I was driving times that were 1.5 seconds behind those of the leaders. But in the last 20 laps of the Grand Prix I was suddenly driving a second faster than Piastri and Leclerc, who were battling for the lead.”

“The same track, the same car, the same driver; these huge differences arise only because of the way a tire compound harmonizes with the respective racing car.”

“To be honest, it's pretty annoying that we're experiencing such drastic changes, and that doesn't just apply to us, it applies to pretty much all teams and drivers.” And that's the same in training – one minute you're fast, then the next you're seemingly inexplicably slow.”

“This is really black magic. The people at Pireli don't understand it themselves. We need some serious discussions now. Because we have 2,000 people who are working their fingers to the bone to give Lewis and me a good car – but in the race I sometimes drive a racing car whose speed doesn't deserve any points, then a racing car that is faster than the leader's car. This can't go on like this.”

Azerbaijan GP, ​​Baku City Circuit

01. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, 1:32:58.007 h
02. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +10.910 sec.
03. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +31.328
04. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +36.143
05. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, +1:17.098 min
06. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +1:25.468
07. Alex Albon (T), Williams, +1 lap, +1:27.396
08. Franco Colapinto (RA), Williams, +1:29.541
09. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +1:32.401
10. Oliver Bearman (GB), Haas, +1:33.127
11. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +1:33.465
12. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +1:57.189
13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Racing Bulls, +2:26.907
14. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Clean, +2:28.841
15. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +1 lap
16. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Sauber, +1 lap
Out of
Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, crash
Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, accident
Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, brakes
Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, Crash

World Championship standings (after 17 of 24 Grands Prix and 3 of 6 sprints)

driver
01. Verstappen 313 points
02. Norris254
03. Leclerc235
04. Piastri 222
05.Sainz184
06. Hamilton166
07. Russell143
08. Perez 143
09.Alonso-58
10. Walk 24
11. Hulkenberg 22
12. Tsunoda22
13. Albon12
14. Ricciardo12
15. Gasly-8
16. Oliver Bearman (GB) 7
17. Magnussens 6
18. Ocon 5
19. Colapinto 4
20. Zhou-0
21. Logan Sargeant (USA) 0
22. Bottas-0

Constructors' Cup
02. McLaren 476 points
01. Red Bull Racing 456
03. Ferrari 425
04. Mercedes-Benz 309
05. Aston-Martin 82
06. Racing Bulls 34
07. Haas-29
09. Williams 16
08. Alpine 13
10. Clean 0