The young gun George Russell has been very impressive since he joined Mercedes. Last year saw him making his debut for the German team. In his first year with Mercedes, the young driver was able to beat the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and won his maiden Grand Prix in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Albeit, this year, Russell has not been very successful.
But fans and critics are in awe of Mercedes drivers for hanging in there even though they know the W14 car is in no condition to win races, let alone championships. On top of that, the FIA has introduced a new law of shortening the DRS zones to make drivers work harder to overtake. And George Russell has openly condemned the idea of reducing the DRS zones.
George Russell Is Not Happy With DRS Changes
According to FIA officials, this new rule to reduce the DRS zones will make Formula One more interesting. However, not many drivers agree with the governing body that this law will attract more fans. George Russell has always been vocal about the difficulties for drivers due to recent decisions of the FIA. According to him, the new changes in the DRS Activation zones have made overtaking more difficult. Many drivers voiced their complaints, and among them, Russell was one of the first to do so. Furthermore, when the FIA introduced the law right before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Russell expressed his opinion on the matter then as well. He mentioned, “The governing body should have involved us in the discussion. The drivers need to voice their opinion, and the authorities should note them down.”
The Mercedes driver noted that the short DRS zones actually make matters worse. As a result, the drivers don’t get to overtake, and the races get more boring. Moreover, Russell added, “The fans love to watch the battle between the wheels. If the drivers cannot overtake, the fans would miss those battles.” Apparently, there is a chance that this lack of wheel-to-wheel action would make the F1 community lose fans. That’s what the young Briton is more afraid about. Now, all the drivers will need to focus on going full throttle on the straight line to try to overtake the other cars.
Dan Fallows Disagrees With Russell On FIA’s Decision
Looks like George Russell has got a counterargument from Aston Martin’s Technical Director, Dan Fallows, who suggests that there is no data available to prove Russell right. According to Fallows, the drivers can run the cars to different specifications, and that can provide overtaking opportunities. Furthermore, when the cars run in various specifications, then it is bound to make differences on the race track. Dan Fallows mentioned, “Anyway, with different circuits like in Baku and in Imola, for instance, the drivers and teams can gain varieties of results with their cars.”
However, he also acknowledged that it was clearly visible when the cars were able to overtake the previous races. But the Aston Martin technical director does not see the point of why people are talking so much about the Baku track. Moreover, FIA has informed before that the Drag Reduction System (DRS) will be changed in more race tracks further. It is not just limited to Baku, Azerbaijan. George Russell and other drivers have to make peace with it anyway.