F1 Sao Paulo GP: Mercedes feared race-ending issue for George Russell, but didn’t tell him
Russell expertly controlled Sunday’s 71-lap race and held off recovering teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton to 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:claim his first grand prix win - and a first for Mercedes amid a 🐼troubled 2022 season.&ಌnbsp;
However, things could have been very different for Russell, after it emerged that Mercedes spent half the race fearing a problem on the Briton’s car could be 🃏terminal.
"We had a water leak on the car throughout the race and it wasn't clear whether we could actually make it to the end,” Mercedes 💛boss Toto Wolff, who did not travel to Brazil, confirmed after the race.
"We talked about it on the intercom and we all agreed we're going to let him drive to the end even without water, on whatever was there to cool it and just try 🐽to finish the race.”
Speaking to reporters remotely, Wolff asked M🍎ercedes team communications director Bradley Lord to explain the issue in more detail.
“About half distance, we k🍸new about it and George wasn’t informed,” said Lord. “So he wasn’t aware.
"We were concerned at one point th𓆏at we would be💖 four or five laps from the finish and not making it but then it did by the skin of its teeth.”
Russell’s first grand prix win came two years after he wဣas cruelly denied a⛦ victory on his debut for the team as a substitute for Hamilton at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.
“I think he des⛄erved to win in Bahrain and we let him down with the car,” Wolff added🌼.
“This victory makes us happy because he coulꦗd have had one on the clock two years ago, and he didn’t, and now he has that first victory."
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