George Russell recently saw his multi-year extension with Mercedes officially announced. Photo: RacePictures.

Russell is certain: This is why there's no more overtakes!

16:21, 21 Oct

Updated: 16:39, 21 Oct

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byNorberto Mujica

Mercedes driver George Russell lifts the lid on what he thinks is really killing on-track racing in Formula 1.

This tyre is very good, but it causes bad racing.

- George Russell

George Russell spent the entirety of the U.S. Grand Prix trailing Oscar Piastri as the pair fought for P5. Arguing that a better result was possible for him, the British Mercedes driver then spoke about what he believes is the main reason behind the lack of overtakes at the Circuit of the Americas.

He told GPblog: “Yeah, well I think if I came out of Turn 1 P4 due to Charles’s strategy maybe I could have finished P3.

“But the thing is now, when there’s no tyre degradation, there’s no tyre delta. Between the fastest car and the slowest car in the top six, there’s maybe two tenths or three tenths.

"And every track we go to, you need at least half a second to overtake. So that’s why you’re not seeing any overtakes. And I don’t even remember the last two-stop race, to be honest.”

George Russell praised Pirelli's work. Photo: RacePictures.

However, Russell doesn’t hold Pirelli to blame for the lack of on-track action during the United States Grand Prix.

“I think they really get a hard time no matter what. There’s lots of tyre degradation, people say it’s not real, the drivers can’t push, we have to manage, we don’t like that. Then when there’s no tyre degradation, we say it’s a boring race.”

According to Russell, Pirelli’s position is a tough one, due to the seemingly contradictory, and therefore almost impossible to meet, requirements regarding the optimal tyre for Formula One racing.

George Russell and teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the U.S GP. Photo:RacePictures.

He continued: “They don’t seem to be able to win in any case. So realistically, you want a tyre that you can push full gas, but it doesn’t go the whole race.

“If you could choose the tyre, it’s a tyre you can go flat out, but after 15 laps it falls off a cliff and you have to do a two or three-stop race.

“And ideally, the soft tyre does 12 laps, the medium tyre does 15 laps and the hard tyre does 20 laps, and then it falls off the cliff. But that is a lot easier said than done.

“Pirelli get a very hard time. They do their best, they’ve given us a substantially better tyre, this tyre is very good, but it causes bad racing,” he concluded.

Wolff Criticises "Bad" U.S. GP

Russell was not the only Mercedes team member to criticise the lack of action witnessed at the United States Grand Prix. According to Mercedes team principal, part-owner and CEO Toto Wolff, the cars’ inability to follow each other combined with the tyre behaviour, played a key role in the race at the Circuit of the Americas unfolding the way it did.

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