In the round-up: George Russell says Mercedes made clear progress between the first two races of the season and will bring more improvements in the coming rounds.
In brief
Russell sees early progress at Mercedes
After being disappointed by their start to the season in Bahrain, Mercedes looked in better shape in Saudi Arabia where both drivers finished ahead of the Ferraris. Russell, who took fourth ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton, said they “definitely made a step in the right direction.”
“Above all we just truly maximised the potential of the car,” he explained. “We had a really strong qualifying which was really enjoyable. I’d really pleased to come home in P4 on the road because I felt like that was the maximum that was possible.
“I was having fun up there, the car was feeling good. We know we’ve got some more performance in the locker, in some races to come.”
“Every little margin matters” in “crazy” midfield
Zhou Guanyu says the contest in the midfield is so close this year the smallest mistakes can have a significant impact.
“I think realistically we are fighting from P9 to P13, 14,” said the Alfa Romeo driver, who finished 13th on Sunday. “Everything can happen and one little mistake or one little thing you get wrong, you could be compromised from a points finish to a struggle at the back.
“So this season is really crazy, but it’s really nice in a way that’s every little margin matters.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Norris ‘was put in a headlock and robbed of his £144,000 Richard Mille watch’ (Daily Mail)
‘Suspect One slowly approached me and asked me: ‘Is this your car?’ I don’t recall exactly what happened, but Suspect One then went behind me and put his right arm around my neck and his left arm under my back.’
Canapino coming to grips with new sensations on Texas oval (IndyCar)
‘Before the test I was really, really nervous, but now I am more comfortable, and I have (developed) respect – a lot of respect – for the oval. For me, the race will be a test race, the same situation as (all races) this year. I want to finish and learn.’
Sao Paulo E-Prix round six (IndyCar)
Lucas di Grassi: ‘It’s very emotional for me to be racing there. I’m from Sao Paulo, I was born just a few minutes away and grew up there. It’s going to be amazing racing in front of my home fans.’
Red Bull are in a class of their own once again, but is this an issue for F1? (The Guardian)
‘At the sharp end of that organisation, despite Pérez’s victory in Jeddah, realistically it is Verstappen who will lead the charge. Pérez is bullish about his chances but it is hard to picture this season even presenting a two-horse race but rather another canter to the line for the world champion’s third title in a row.’
‘Michael Schumacher (is my racing hero) – I really got inspired by what he was doing and what he has done to the sport. Then, he made me become a Ferrari fan as well, so he’s my hero.’
‘F1 and the teams are understandably running out of patience. Last Sunday was a mess and it needs to be addressed, not in the form of an amendment to an out-of-date rulebook that’s open to interpretation, but by establishing a set group of professional stewards who oversee all the races and are answerable for their decisions.’
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Just watching back the feature race, when I took fastest lap on 19 lap old mediums the commentator goes:
‘He must’ve cut the chicane’
😂😂😂
— Richard Verschoor (@R_Verschoor1) March 20, 2023
A lot of rose-tinted specs for the tyre war era. The currently competition is hardly great but throw a tyre war into the mix and you could easily put a team like Red Bull another second per lap ahead.
Hard to imagine a tyre war ever happening under the budget cap anyway. #F1
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) March 20, 2023
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Gary Richardson, Gaz, Thomahawk_93, Thomas Martin and Alec Glen!
