‘Challenging’ race for George in Portugal
A difficult day for George at the Algarve International Circuit as he ends the day in P16.
There was early drama at the end of lap one after contact between Alfa Romeo teammates Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi caused Räikkönen to retire from the race and brought out the safety car for six laps as the track was cleared.
Once racing got underway again, George struggled with his Williams FW43B and was quickly passed by Daniel Ricciardo, Antonio Giovinazzi and Fernando Alonso to drop him down into P14 before dropping back into P16 as the laps ticked down.
By lap 24 of 66, drivers began opting to pit for their tyre change and Georg was able to move up into P12 before pitting on lap 28 to change from the Soft (C4) to Hard (C2) compound Pirelli tyres, rejoining in P18.
George was then able to gain two places, moving him up to P16 where he ultimately finished the race. A difficult race for the Brit after multiple issues with the car but he remains positive going into the Spanish Grand Prix.
George Russell – Williams Racing Driver
“After yesterday we were all hoping for more, but that was an incredibly challenging race. Our car does not suit these conditions, when the wind picks up it becomes a real struggle. It’s a shame but the positives are that we know the strengths and the weaknesses of the car, and so we just have to hope that moving forward we get some slightly calmer conditions which allow us to demonstrate those strengths.”
George will be on track for the SpanishGP on Friday May 7 from 10:30am BST for FP1.