Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord has revealed that George Russell was "compromised" during his final stint in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
The Briton started from pole in Barcelona and led the opening stint, managing his pace well with Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli behind.
Unfortunately, a two-stop strategy proved to be the wrong approach, with Hamilton securing Ferrari's first victory of the season on a three-stop strategy.
While the seven-time world champion capitalised on a well-timed virtual safety car, the pace he possessed looked more than enough to secure victory regardless.
As for Russell, his pace suddenly dropped during his final stint, to the extent that Antonelli overtook him with only a handful of laps remaining.
Fortunately for the King's Lynn-born driver, Antonelli suffered a very late retirement following a mechanical issue, allowing Russell to finish second.
Following the grand prix, the Brackley-based outfit revealed that Russell's loss of pace was caused by an "incorrectly adjusted" front wing, which affected the balance of his W17.
"It was great to see George, after a difficult run of results in the last few Grands Prix, back at his best, taking pole, fighting for the race win," Lord commented in Mercedes’ post-Barcelona debrief video.
"[He was] doing that notwithstanding the fact that in our final pit stop, we actually incorrectly adjusted the front wing, owing to a problem with the adjuster gun.
"It meant he was driving with a very, very oversteery balance that certainly compromised his pace in the final stages."
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
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