Russell: Williams 'very fortunate' to have spare car in Baku

  • Published on 27 Apr 2019 09:10
  • comments 0
  • By: Fergal Walsh

George Russell says that Williams is lucky to have a third chassis available to it at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Russell will race the remainder of the weekend in Williams' spare car after a loose manhole cover destroyed the underside of his FW42 in the opening minutes of free practice one on Friday.

The incident cut short the session for all teams, and Russell was forced to sit out the afternoon session as Williams worked on his car to get it prepared for Saturday.

"I’ll go into tomorrow trying to make the most of our session,” said Russell. “But obviously we don’t have our spare car now.

“Obviously you don’t plan to crash or do anything stupid like that. But the spare car is there for a reason, you’d want to try to go to a spare car when it’s truly needed from something of your own doing, let’s say, and this is completely out of our hands.

“So they’re very fortunate we had that here or else we wouldn’t be racing.”

Lack of spare parts

Williams has had a problem with a lack of spare parts so far this year, with Russell and teammate Robert Kubica being told to drive with care at the opening races of the season.

Russell described how the incident felt from inside the car, stating the built-in fire extinguisher was so cold that it was almost burning him.

“It just came out of nowhere," the Mercedes junior said. "You can’t see these drains really when you’re going that fast down the straights and you’ve got so many on the track it’s just normal to run over them.

“The second I did there was a huge bang. I didn’t feel anything through my back so that was good but I could tell it ripped the floor off, it set the fire extinguisher off and because of that the car ended up turning off.

"The fire extinguisher was so cold it was almost burning me so I didn’t know what was going on at that point.

“So I just jumped out as quick as I could. It’s just an unnecessary amount of pain, damage, a lot of costs [are] going to be incurred because of this incident. It’s frustrating for all of us.”

Replies (0)

Login to reply

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Mercedes
  • Points 635
  • Podiums 14
  • Grand Prix 123
  • Country GB
  • Date of b. Feb 15 1998 (26)
  • Place of b. King's Lynn, GB
  • Weight 70 kg
  • Length 1.85 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar