Kravitz mentioned that he found Russell’s parents, Steve and Alison, who were engaged in a conversation with Naomi Schiff, a colleague from Sky Sports, and ignored his comments with laughter.
Despite arguing with the Mercedes engineers, George Russell was informed that he would not be able to regain his position when returning to the track, resulting in him finishing with six points in the drivers’ championship instead of potential eight.
However, he managed to secure an extra point by setting the fastest lap, providing a small boost for Mercedes in the constructors’ standings.
During the discussion on Ted’s Notebook, Kravitz expressed his opinion, stating: “If I were Mercedes, I would consider giving George some kind of bonus and a sign of appreciation for sacrificing the esteemed P6 and securing the fastest lap for the team.”
Kravitz mentioned that he found Russell’s parents, Steve and Alison, who were engaged in a conversation with Sky Sports colleague, Naomi Schiff, and they ignored his comments with laughter.
He also added: “If I were George, I would ask for an extra shot of rum, according to naval tradition.”
Russell downplayed the situation during his post-race meeting with Sky, stating: “You can never be satisfied with P6 or P7. At the end of the day, as a team, we gained an extra point. I may have lost my position to Lewis, but I won’t lament losing a P6.”
Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, explained the logic behind the strategic decision to pit stop after the race. “His lap times were progressively decreasing, and our projections indicated he wouldn’t make it to the end. We didn’t want to hand the position to Perez,” Wolff explained. “Lewis would probably have overtaken him anyway. The goal was to fight for P6 and P7 and keep Red Bull behind. It was a precautionary measure.”
Both Russell and Hamilton acknowledged that the team finds itself in a disadvantageous position after a disappointing start to the season. Currently, they respectively hold the seventh and eighth positions after seven races, with Mercedes occupying the fourth place in the constructors’ standings.
