The Portuguese Grand Prix is set to give George Russell an immediate chance to atone for his misjudgement at Imola two weeks ago when a collision with Valtteri Bottas cost a likely points finish. Based on the performance Williams has shown so far this weekend, this is the best opportunity the team has yet had to end a points drought that currently stands at 29 races.
Although Russell did score points for ninth place and fastest lap on his stand-in outing for Mercedes in last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix, he has yet to finish in the top 10 in his 39 races for Williams. Doing so in Portugal would be the perfect response to what happened at Imola – regardless of who was to blame for the incident.
Having qualified 11th in Portugal, Russell suggested that the race pace of the Williams should be even better. All the evidence points to this being the grand prix where Williams is best-equipped to get that elusive points finish.
“Our race pace looks stronger than our qualifying pace, to be honest,” said Russell.
“We’ve got the quickest car in a straight line, which should help us to defend or attack. We need to make a clean start. We qualified 12th last week and were in a points-paying position for the majority.
“We’ve got a chance, let’s see what happens.”
RUSSELL’S LOST POINTS CHANCES
Russell has occasionally had shots at points finishes for Williams. When the team last scored, it was courtesy of Robert Kubica’s 10th place in the 2019 German Grand Prix after Russell lost the place when he took to the runoff at Turn 3.
In last year’s Tuscan Grand Prix, Russell spent 36 out of 59 laps in the race at Mugello running in the points but then dropped from ninth on the second and final restart grid to 12th. He eventually finished 11th having passed the damaged Haas of Romain Grosjean.
His next chance, at Imola last year, was squandered when he crashed under the safety car.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this year offered his latest shot, but it ended with Russell’s high-profile accident after losing it having taken to the grass as a result of correcting wheelspin that occurred when he took to the wet line while attempting to pass Valtteri Bottas for ninth place.
That led to significant fallout after the race, with both drivers blaming each other but Russell ultimately having to climb down and recant some of his more ill-judged comments.
While there have been other races where points might have been possible, such as at Monza last year when he was disadvantaged by the timing of the safety car and red flag, those are the opportunities that stand out as wasted.
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH WILLIAMS
Russell retains the full support of Williams, who has been delighted by his strong performances since becoming one of its race drivers in 2019. And rightly so given the qualities he has shown that are likely to result in promotion to the Mercedes works team.
Team principal Simon Roberts backed Russell for making the move on Bottas at Imola, although did concede that the outcome proves it could have been better-judged.
“There’s absolutely no question that it looked like an overtake was on,” said Roberts. “We have absolutely no concern or criticism of what George did.
“I don’t think it was particularly aggressive. I don’t know what people see [but] that wasn’t, in my book, an aggressive move.
“But it didn’t end well and I can’t get away from that, and neither can George.”
Capitalising on the opportunity presented by the Portuguese GP is essential for Williams given its need to avoid a fourth-consecutive last-place finish in the constructors’ championship.
Currently, nearest rivals Haas and Alfa Romeo have no points and eighth place in the championship is a possibility if Williams can turn its qualifying pace into results.
WAS Q3 POSSIBLE?
While Russell’s 11th place, the best position Williams has achieved in qualifying since Lance Stroll was 10th fastest at Monza in 2018, was impressive, the time gap to a Q3 place was more significant.
Russell was just 0.057s slower than 10th-fastest Pierre Gasly in Q2. While his theoretical fastest lap, created by combining his best three sector times, was fractionally quicker than his actual time it still wasn’t enough to beat Gasly.
But given such a slender margin, it’s fair to conclude that Q3 might have been achievable – especially if Lando Norris had not pitted when Russell was in a position to benefit from a tow at the start of his Q2 lap.
“It would have been great for everybody if we had made it and we were obviously very close,” said Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson when asked by The Race about qualifying.
“It was a bit disappointing now that Lando [Norris] decided to pit as we thought we were going get a useful tow off him at the start of George’s timed lap, which might have made the difference.
“It’s difficult to know what would have happened in Q3 because a few cars didn’t find time, but I’d imagine that’s conditions in the wind so it’s hard to imagine we’d have been much further up and then P10.
“So it would have been great to have gotten there, but actually P11’s pretty good to be honest. And if we’re there on merit, then we got a good chance tomorrow.”
THE ROAD TO POINTS
So what needs to happen for Russell to score points? The first question is what are his chances of holding position because there are a number of potentially faster cars behind.
Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) all have team-mates starting in the top 10 but qualified behind Russell. So to maximise his chances of points, he needs to keep them behind.
The second part of the equation is gaining places. While there’s the chance to gain a place or two should other drivers make mistakes, hit strategic trouble or reliability problems, Russell will also need to show he can stay ahead of any places he does gain.
The Williams drivers were consistently strong in the main speed trap, although Alonso was the quickest of all. However, this is using DRS, whereas Williams is optimistic about the non-DRS straightline speed it showed during Friday practice.
“Yesterday it was quick in straight line [and] it was both in Bahrain and in Imola, so that’s quite a good feature of this of this car,” said Robson of the car’s pace on the straights. “Using the DRS, it was still pretty quick, so hopefully what we saw on Friday will carry over and people haven’t taken a load of drag off their car since.
“It will help him at this circuit because that last corner is flat, so effectively the drag starts kicking in at the exit of Turn 14. It will be an advantage to both defending and hopefully useful for attacking as well.
“He’s got a good chance and anything he can get at the start, hopefully, he can hang on to on the straights.”
Sebastian Vettel, who starts one place ahead of Russell, was just 0.1kmph slower in the main speed trap in qualifying, but less strong without the DRS on Friday. AlphaTauri also looks to have a significant disadvantage on top speed on the straights, although Alpine and Alfa Romeo look more threatening.
But top speed on the straights is only a small part of the overtaking equation. The challenge will be to make a good start, at worst hold on to 11th and then execute a faultless race from there.
Given the pace of the car, Williams has every chance of ending the race in the points even without too much help from the opposition. Russell also has the advantage of being the best-placed car with free starting tyre choice as a consolation prize for just missing Q3.
As team-mate Nicholas Latifi starts down in 18th, the hopes of Williams are primarily on Russell’s shoulders. And he has a very simple view of how to approach the race.
“It’s a good start, good first lap,” said Russell of what’s needed to get that long-awaited top 10. “We have the straightline speed and I think the guys behind will really struggle to overtake us.
“So eyes forward and maximum attack.”
