Mercedes star George Russell is the only driver to finish every competitive session to start the 2025 season in the top five after coming P5 in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Yet the Silver Arrows failed to meet their expectations for the race in Jeddah as Russell came home 27.236 seconds behind winner Oscar Piastri plus 19.132s behind Charles Leclerc in P3. Rookie gem Andrea Kimi Antonelli also finished the Saudi Arabian GP 34.688s behind Piastri.
Russell was a genuine threat for pole position in Saudi Arabia after he finished qualifying just 0.113s slower than Max Verstappen. But the 27-year-old’s threat failed to carry into the race on Sunday and Russell was over eight seconds off the lead before he pitted on Lap 20 of 50.
Mercedes were ‘caught out’ by their overheating tyre problems in the Saudi Arabian GP
Mercedes had to watch Russell fall even further behind the podium places after pitting from third position in the Saudi Arabian GP. The Briton initially remained in the top three as the pit stops played out, yet Leclerc of Ferrari got ahead at the start of L38 on a different strategy.
Ferrari ran Leclerc longer on the medium tyres than Mercedes opted for with Russell, before pitting the Monegasque for hards on L29. The tyre offset gave the 27-year-old superior pace and even took advantage of Mercedes unexpectedly struggling with overheating their tyres.
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| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
99 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
89 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
87 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
73 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
47 |
| 6 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
38 |
| 7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
31 |
That is according to The Race, which reports that Mercedes were ‘caught out’ by their issues endured in the Saudi Arabian GP. The Brackley squad expected they would be off McLaren’s pace in Jeddah, but they did not expect they would struggle more than Red Bull and Ferrari.
In particular, overheating their tyres was a problem that Mercedes did not predict as Russell and Antonelli struggled on the medium C4 compound plus hard C3 compound Pirelli rubber. It marked a big step back as Russell excelled on the C3s while they were the softs in Bahrain.
Antonelli had qualified in P5 for the Saudi Arabian GP with a Q3 lap 0.459s off Russell’s time for P3 plus 0.196s off Leclerc’s time for P4. The 18-year-old would finish the race in P6, after McLaren’s Lando Norris came from P10 on the grid to finish 18.040s in front of Russell in P4.
What has George Russell said about Mercedes’ tyres overheating in the Saudi Arabian GP?
Russell on C3s took P2 whilst Leclerc came P4 as Ferrari realised their problems with Pirelli’s C1 tyres in the Bahrain Grand Prix as he managed to pull away from the 27-year-old, despite having a softer compound. Yet the roles were reversed in Saudi Arabia with both on the C3s.
Mercedes star Russell, whose P5 in the Saudi Arabian GP ensures he is still the only driver to finish every competitive session to start the 2025 F1 season in the top five, was also stunned by the pace he was losing amid the Briton’s second stint when his tyres overheated so badly.
“It was all about the tyres,” Russell told Sky Sports. “They were massively overheating. I was pushing hard to stay with Max at the beginning of the second stint, but I knew I wasn’t able to hold on. We fell off a cliff at the end.
“I was dropping a second per lap in the last 15 laps. We just didn’t have the pace and even if I managed more, I would have been fifth. Coming home in fifth on a bad day, we take it, but we need to improve it quickly.”
