As the Bahrain Grand Prix unfolded, George Russell ranked second, and his broadcast slowly conveyed the news that different systems were failing. Team principal Toto Wolff simply said: “The car was injured.”
Wolff said the Mercedes driver suffered a sudden line brake failure and it took some time to find the settings to reset the system. He lost his GP and went through problems with the onboard lowering system (DRS), which led to his racing workers having to tell him on the radio when he could use the system.
Wolf added that people were worried that the British would “lose the whole dash – which means there is no button, no way to turn any settings.” He had been on the last stop on the soft tires and kept the violent Lando Norris behind him, rather than losing his attention once. But Russell achieved this feat.
Sunday’s race was probably Russell’s greatest Formula 1 car to date, and it was what Wolff called an “incredible driver” to reporters. While he faces investigation after his race to fight for alleged doctoral assault, the housekeeper found he didn’t get any sports advantage, which means Russell kept his second place – a crucial scoring in a season where Mercedes didn’t expect to compete for the championship.
But every millisecond, every point grows, and it’s important when the edges are so thin throughout the grid. As Wolff said to Sky Sports, “I think today saved the driver who turned out to be.”
What’s wrong with Russell’s car?
Russell admitted in a post-match press conference that he was happy to see the checkered flag. The British are basically driven in the dark (considering that the Bahrain GP is a night game, no puns.
The Mercedes driver overcame the initial setback in the qualifying race and passed Charles Leclerc at the outset, maintaining second place throughout the race. It wasn’t until the final stage that Norris sailed around Ferraris and began to close the gap with Russell, which Russell went through many issues in his car.
Everything seems to look good on the outside, but inside, a series of failures unfold.
“I felt everything for the time being, and then suddenly we had a line-by-line failure. So the pedal went for a long time and then it got shorter,” Russell explained. This meant he needed to push the pedal further or shorter than the normal pedal for braking action.
“I don’t know what’s going on. Direction Ren isn’t working properly, so it’s really hard to leave Lando behind. I think on the other lap, he’ll make me feel very comfortable.”
Essentially, line-by-line failure is when controlling an electronic system that fails in the rear brake. When a failure occurs, the brakes are done manually by the driver rather than through the system, which may make the car under the brakes harder to control. Wolff likens it to when a power steering failure occurs in a road car and “Imagine you have to adjust between one corner and the next one without it.”
“That’s just a very good skill,” he said.
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– Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (@Mercedesamgf1) April 13, 2025
Then there is the GPS issue. Shortly after the safety car, Russell suddenly disappeared from the timing screen, which clearly showed something was wrong. His transponder stopped working and no GPS data affected how he used DRS. Without data, it’s hard to tell the gap – not only compared to other cars, but also for people around him, such as Norris.
According to Wolff, the Drs Beacon failed, meaning Russell needed to turn on the system manually. Russell said he tried “Dr’s coverage,” he added: “A circle, I clicked the click button and Dr turned on, so I turned it off again and fell down – not getting.
“I lost more than I gained, it was only open for a second, so it showed you the problems we had.”
The housekeeper did investigate the so-called DR infringement, saying, “The connection between the automated DRS activation system and the car failed due to timing cycles provided by the outside party.” Manual activation has been authorized.
“At the time, the driver was having line-by-line problems and other electronic problems,” the housekeeper said. “At the time, he suggested using the auxiliary button in the cockpit, which was used as a backup radio button, but also as a manual DRS activation button.”
The housekeeper confirmed what Russell shared – Drs was “accidentally activated” while navigating one of them when he tried to use Team Radio. According to the butler, the telemeter confirmed the following: “DRS activated the distance of 37 meters in a straight line of about 700 meters. Although he got 0.02 seconds, he gave up 0.28 seconds in the next corner to compensate.”
It should be clear that this violates sports regulations; however, no sports advantage was obtained and therefore no fine was imposed on Russell or Mercedes.
All of this happens while ending the race and stopping McLaren, arguably the fastest car on the grid so far this season, while soft tires. Russell shared with Sky Sports how he had no data on the steering wheel in his last game, which made it hurt.
“I’m not quite sure the same is true for that guy’s way of working,” Russell said. “I saw behind Charles behind the tough and saw 24 laps to go. I thought, ‘Jeez, how are we going to do this job?” But we did. ”
Russell may have been able to push the drive away this time, making him six-sixth of the driver rankings, but why these questions arise, Mercedes immediately after the game.
“We don’t know, maybe it was some wiring loom on the car,” Wolf said. “Maybe it was triggered by the F1 system failure and then caused our system to be a little banana.”
Russell returns home in second place (Mark Thompson/Getty image)
What does the result mean for Mercedes’ season?
McLaren may dominate this season, with Oscar Piastri winning the second win, Norris having one of his own, but Mercedes has been at the forefront, and Russell is sometimes the closest challenger, like Sunday.
In four races (all different types of tracks), Russell won three podiums, bringing third home in Australia and China. This type of performance is enough to build confidence within the team, especially after Mercedes’ tough Stretch Mercedes attempts to find consistency in current regulations.
“It’s a real test for us. We know our cars love cold conditions and the competitiveness we show in China is not a big surprise,” Russell said. “But it will be a question mark – in Bahrain. We’ve had another sturdy weekend. So, we’re in good health this season.”
The British said Mercedes would not expect McLaren to be close in Bahrain, a track that many people expect this Woking-based team to thrive. But then Russell finished second and teammate Kimi Antonelli was fourth, and before the unit grid fell, Russell said: “Quoting in the front row was a real surprise.
“And then seeing Lando’s lap behind me was there and I thought, ‘He’s going to fly far here.’ Oscar did a great job in controlling the game, but I’m really happy to keep Lando out.”
Thanks to Russell’s podium, Mercedes ranked McLaren with 58 points in the Constructor rankings. Asked if McLaren was captured, Wolf shared that he thought the team was missing “a few tens” on Sunday and wanted to see how future tracks unfold. He pointed to the shift in trends last season, with McLaren playing several games after finishing sixth and eighth in Bahrain.
But Russell warned of the suggestion when asked if Silver Arrow is a title contender.
“I would love to say that, but honestly, I don’t think we are not. McLaren is too dominant right now. I think that’s probably their highest performance – what we’ve seen in Bahrain this week,” the 27-year-old explained. “And what we’re seeing in China and Suzuki is probably their worst case, and they obviously got a win from those two games.”
Russell added the importance of using instantly and extracting points where possible, just like they did in Australia and Bahrain.
When the battle is so close, it is crucial to be in the right position at the right time. We’ve seen that so far we’ve seen that compared to the battles between Mercedes and the midfield.
“I don’t want this game to continue, but who knows,” Russell said.
Other reports: Luke Smith
(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty image)
