Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton had contrasting circumstances during the opening day of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix race weekend.
Russell needed an engine change after early problems, compounded by further problems at the end of the day.
After the 1st practice session, Mercedes noticed an anomaly in the oil analysis it was conducting on Russell’s engine. He then decided to swap the second engine from his set for practice 2, delaying his entry into the session.
The German team is confident that the removed engine can be reused and will be fully analysed, but claims the change was made for precautionary reasons.
Russell was left looking to the garage for hope ahead of qualifying after his weekend got off to a rocky start.
Asked if the cause of the problem had been found, Russell said: “Not yet. We’re not really sure, we just knew we had to change the engine.”
“So we had a problem after the 1st practice, obviously we delayed the session and then we also had a problem at the end of the session.”
“It wasn’t our best Friday, that’s for sure, but Lewis looks quick, so we know the car is capable of something strong.”
“But once again Ferrari look really, really strong here – they always seem to be quick in Baku.”
“The problem was the engine in the 1st practice, and in the end it was actually a sensor failure, so we went to the pits because we thought there was water leaking, but it wasn’t.”
Even when he was able to finish the ride, Russell was not satisfied with his performance and will have to work hard to improve.
“I struggled, I was definitely off the pace compared to Lewis. I really struggled with the confidence of the car and getting the tires in the right frame so I have to try and step up my game a bit for tomorrow and try to close the gap.”
