George Russell Explains Mercedes Tyre Misunderstanding at Monza Qualifying

Why it matters:

George Russell's unexpected tyre choice in Q3 at Monza's qualifying session highlighted a critical communication breakdown within the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, potentially impacting his performance at a crucial moment.

The details:

During the final segment of qualifying (Q3) at Monza, George Russell was heard expressing confusion over the team radio after being fitted with soft tyres instead of the mediums he believed he had requested. This occurred despite his strong performance in Q1 where he topped the session using the yellow-walled medium compound, a choice that stood out as most competitors opted for softs.

Russell elaborated on the miscommunication, attributing blame to both himself and the team:

• He topped Q1 with mediums and felt comfortable, stating, "the medium feels great, we should consider it for Q3."
• In the middle of Q2, he reiterated, "I'd like to run the medium in Q3."
• In the garage, when he asked, "Are we sticking to the plan?", the team confirmed "Yes." Russell assumed the plan was mediums, but the team's plan was softs.
• "That's why it was a surprise," Russell said. "As I said, I'm as much to blame. We should have discussed it more."

Despite the mix-up, Russell qualified in sixth place. He will start the Italian Grand Prix from fifth on the grid due to a grid penalty incurred by his teammate, Lewis Hamilton.

Russell's perspective:

Russell finished nearly half a second behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen. While acknowledging it's hard to quantify the exact impact, he firmly believed the medium tyres would have yielded a better result.

"I just felt much more comfortable with the medium tyre," he explained. "I didn't really do good laps in Q3. I only improved one and a half-tenths from Q1 on the medium to my fastest lap in Q3."

Considering a normal improvement is five or six tenths, and his Q1 medium lap was achieved on used tyres, Russell implied he would have been "substantially faster." Ultimately, he concluded, "P5 is probably a deserving position" given the circumstances.