Allison: Russell had a few scary seconds.

After spinning on the penultimate lap of the Melbourne race, George Russell’s car stopped on its side on the line and the Mercedes driver called on the radio with red flags to stop the race. The team’s technical director, James Ellison, commented on George’s strong emotions at the time.

James Ellison: “Anyone who watched the race probably heard George’s panicked calls on the radio to stop the race with red flags. At that moment he felt extremely vulnerable because he knew he was in the middle of the track.

He understood that he was on a very fast stretch of corners, and that someone might simply not notice him, and that cars were running towards him at great speed.

George didn’t know how quickly the race management reacted to what was happening, how quickly the yellow flags appeared and then the virtual safety car mode was activated. I believe that race management and marshals responded correctly to ensure safety when George was in a very vulnerable position.

But he didn’t know that. All George knew was that he was in a dangerous situation, and he wanted to communicate this to the others in no uncertain terms.”

James Allison added that despite the unpleasant experience, Russell started working on the simulator immediately after returning from Australia: “Racers are drivers. They know better than anyone how to leave terrible things in the past and move on.

George returned to his usual state a few minutes after the incident. During the briefing after the finish, it was impossible to guess about the accident based on his condition. He was already working on the simulator on Monday. “He had a few scary seconds, but they don’t keep him awake at night.”