Ted Kravitz stunned Mercedes missed golden George Russell opportunity during the Chinese Grand Prix, ‘wasn’t that urgency…’

Mercedes may have finally found the consistency that they’ve been searching for throughout the ground-effect era.

Lewis Hamilton never looked completely comfortable during his final years at Mercedes, while George Russell joined the team from Williams almost immediately after their domination ended.

Mercedes had to deal with porpoising and a car that only appeared to be able to challenge for victories in cooler conditions.

However, the W16 appears to be the best of the rest behind McLaren’s brilliant MCL39 car, based on the evidence from the first two races.

If we had a pound for every time we’ve had to change our post-race graphic this season we’d have two pounds

Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice 🙏 pic.twitter.com/xAOSSqdard

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 23, 2025

Russell has achieved back-to-back podiums in Australia and China, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli has impressed at the beginning of his debut season.

F1 fans think Russell is the most underrated driver in the sport, but there are question marks over whether he could have achieved even more this season.

Ted Kravitz certainly believes so after what he heard Mercedes say to Russell over the team radio at the Chinese Grand Prix.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Ted Kravitz stunned Mercedes didn’t fully explain Lando Norris brake issues to George Russell

Speaking on The F1 Show, Kravitz was discussing Russell’s P3 finish in Shanghai.

Norris’ brakes were failing during the final laps of the Grand Prix, and Kravitz explained: “Why couldn’t George catch an ailing Lando Norris with no brakes towards the end of the race?

“Obviously, Lando was managing his pace, so that’s the reason, and Lando had built a gap, which is good. You always need to build a gap because you never know, as a driver, when you’re going to need a gap to rely on having no brakes.

“But I went back and listened to the team radio and they don’t tell George.

“The only message they get to George, apart from [that] he can see Lando ahead of him being much closer, is that Lando might have a potential brake problem?

“They’re not saying on the radio, OMG George, Lando says he has no brakes.

“We think he’s telling the truth, we think this is not a McLaren ploy, go hell for leather strat two, they give him strat 5, which is not quite as good as strat 2, qualifying spec, go for it, you can get the second position.

“There wasn’t that urgency on the radio. I mean, obviously, George can see him ahead, but they only said Lando might have a potential brake issue. They didn’t say, he’s got no brakes, go get him!”

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George Russell could be under pressure at Mercedes despite his strong start to 2025

The nature of Formula 1 means that even the best-performing drivers aren’t completely safe in their seats.

Carlos Sainz hadn’t done anything wrong at Ferrari, but when Hamilton came calling, he was shown the door.

Russell is entering the final year of his contract at Mercedes as is his teammate Antonelli.

Ralf Schumacher believes Russell is under pressure and that’s because something completely out of his control is happening at Red Bull.

The Milton Keynes-based team are in turmoil with the car becoming increasingly difficult to drive and Liam Lawson set to lose his race seat after just two Grand Prix.

Mercedes are said to be in talks with Max Verstappen’s camp, and if he’s looking for a way out at Red Bull, then team principal Toto Wolff might struggle to turn down the chance to sign the four-time world champion.

It might be why Russell is having the best start to a season in his Formula 1 career, knowing that he could end up being the latest unexpected victim of the piranha club this year.