What should have been the perfect opportunity for Mercedes driver George Russell to take the lead of the Chinese Grand Prix was potentially scuppered before he even got into the car.
After finishing fourth in the Sprint Race at the Chinese Grand Prix for Mercedes, lead driver George Russell put his car on the front row of the grid for Sunday’s race.
Russell was adamant that McLaren had by far the fastest car going into the race in Shanghai but he managed to split both of their drivers over one lap.
Martin Brundle was stunned by Russell during qualifying after managing to upshift during the treacherous final corner.
Russell was delighted to watch Lewis Hamilton win the Sprint Race but would have been desperate to go one better during the main race.
However, pundit Karun Chandhok spotted something ahead of the Grand Prix that made his life much more difficult.
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George Russell’s Mercedes engineers unhappy with oil on the track before the Chinese Grand Prix
Broadcaster Natalie Pinkham was speaking to Chandhok on Sky Sports F1 (23/3 6:32 am) ahead of the Grand Prix and asked the former HRT driver what he ‘spotted’ on the grid before the race started.
He explained: “You can see [that] there’s oil on the right-hand side of the start-finish straight.
“As we come up, everyone starting on the right-hand side, George Russell.
“I’ve spoken to some of the Mercedes engineers, they’re not happy about it because oil has been dropped right in the grid box.
LAP 18/56
Russell doesn’t stay ahead of Norris for long
The McLaren sweeps past the Mercedes to regain P2#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/7pmtYBhpyd
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025
“The white stuff that you see is cement dust. Basically, they’ve chucked the cement dust down to soak up the oil.
“But, there was something from one of the support races earlier this morning. So, everyone on the right-hand side will have something else to think about.”
Asked how much of an impact it would have, Chandhok continued: “It depends. It seems to be more towards the front of the grid.”
Martin Brundle later admitted during his grid walk before the race that the situation was ‘not optimum’.
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George Russell struggled at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix
Russell’s initial launch off the grid wasn’t bad and he was challenging Piastri going into the first corner.
However, he ended up being shuffled down the pack and falling behind Lando Norris.
The British driver wasn’t the only racer to struggle from that side of the grid, with Max Verstappen also losing two positions and falling behind both Ferraris.
It was expected to be a race of attrition with tyre management such an issue during Saturday’s Sprint Race.
BACK-TO-BACK PODIUMS! 👊 AND, OUR 300TH IN F1!!!
George brings it home in P3 at the Chinese GP 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/PbwLWkNdvs
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 23, 2025
Many were expecting it to be a two-stop race with the potential for three pit stops if tyre wear mirrored the previous event.
Unfortunately, any driver who did pit twice was penalised with the one-stop strategy proving to be far superior.
Racing Bulls lost out as did Kimi Antonelli, while Russell nearly caught Norris on the final lap when his brakes started to run long but the gap was too large to overcome at the end.
