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Ralf Schumacher is worried that George Russell is waiting for Mercedes to build the ‘perfect’ car after missing out on victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.
George Russell leads the drivers’ championship after two rounds and a brilliant opening weekend in Australia.
The British driver had no problem taking the Sprint pole and winning the shortened race at the Chinese Grand Prix before his weekend took a turn for the worse.
Lando Norris, George Russell and Alex Albon made their F1 debuts on this day in 2019
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A mechanical issue with his Mercedes in qualifying meant he couldn’t snatch pole position away from teammate Kimi Antonelli, and during the race, he spent far too long battling both Ferrari drivers to ever be in contention to win.
Jolyon Palmer suggested Russell was ‘caught out’ by the behaviour of his Pirelli tyres during the race, and now Ralf Schumacher has come up with a theory about why he wasn’t able to catch his less experienced teammate once he had overtaken Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton on Sunday.
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Ralf Schumacher thinks George Russell is waiting for Mercedes to build the ‘perfect’ car
Speaking about the six-time race winner on the Backstage Boxengasse Podcast, Schumacher said: “I mean, Russell obviously wants to hold his own, but he’s now realised, ‘Oops, there’s someone else who can do that too – and, more importantly, do it really well.’
“And as I say, to me, Russell is the sort of driver who needs a bit more confidence, in the sense that the car has to be perfect.
“I didn’t think that was the case with him at Williams, but it’s become a bit like that now; I don’t know why, or perhaps he hasn’t quite got to grips with the car yet.
“I thought the restart was telling, where he really got stuck behind the Ferraris, then ruined his tyres because he took too long, and then Kimi Antonelli was able to drive away up front in complete calm, who then also said afterwards, ‘Yes, it was difficult to drive.’
“But obviously, Kimi Antonelli, with his youth, handled it better and more straightforwardly.”
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George Russell thinks ‘unfortunate’ safety car timing scuppered his Chinese Grand Prix
Before the start of Sunday’s race, many people wondered how Antonelli would fare getting off the line from pole position.
He made a mistake in Miami last year after taking Sprint pole, and during both prior starts in 2026, he got bogged down and lost several positions.
However, Antonelli was only overtaken by one Ferrari on this occasion, while Russell slipped down to fourth, which ended up defining his race.
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Asked about Antonelli’s win and his own performance during the post-race press conference, he said: “Yeah, really special day for Kimi, so huge congratulations to him.
“Again, it was just the Ferraris made our life very difficult once again. Three races down, and three of those times they’ve taken the lead from us. But I felt in a pretty good place, so I got back into P2.
“Then, also, the Safety Car timing was just a bit unfortunate, and coming out behind Colapinto and Ocon hindered my chances. But all things considered, this weekend, after what happened in quali, P2 is a very solid result.”
Russell went on to say that Antonelli pulling away while he was stuck behind the battling Ferraris was ‘a little bit annoying’, but it will be interesting to see whether Schumacher’s opinion turns out to be true.
Toto Wolff called Russell’s three-year stint the biggest regret of his career, as the car simply wasn’t competitive enough. He doesn’t face that problem this year, but will need to learn to drive around some of the issues that exist with the W17.
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