George Russell's victory in Baku has ignited speculation around the "cracked the code" theory.
Former IndyCar Series racer and F1 TV analyst James Hinchcliffe thinks George Russell might have tapped into the full potential of his Mercedes car, pondering whether the Brit has "solved the riddle" to gain a competitive edge over his teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Russell had a commanding performance during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, securing pole position and clinching victory at the Baku City Circuit. Antonelli, who is currently leading the drivers' championship, faced a setback with a crash in qualifying.
Starting from 16th on the grid, Antonelli managed to finish in fifth place, earning 10 points, while Russell added 25 to his tally. Consequently, Russell has narrowed the Italian's championship lead to 66 points.
On the F1 Nation podcast, Hinchcliffe analyzed Russell's performance.
"What stands out to me is that even at different tracks where George has managed to achieve solid laps in practice and a strong qualifying result, Kimi has consistently had the upper hand during the race, even when George has come out on top," Hinchcliffe remarked.
George Russell, Mercedes
"Remember when he overtook him in Barcelona before Kimi's car failed? He was catching everyone in Austria. Today, that wasn’t the case. Kimi lacked the speed to match George all weekend.
"Sure, he missed some laps in the first practice, but he had FP2 and FP3. Being a professional, he should be quick to adapt. What I find intriguing is whether George has indeed cracked the code. Has he discovered something new? Has he figured out how to extract that additional level of performance from this car? Because Kimi was never really close to his pace throughout the weekend."
Hinchcliffe concluded: "I’m not suggesting that he has, but I'm eager to see if when we reach Malaysia or Singapore, we notice him being more competitive, particularly in race pace. Perhaps he is finally putting all the components together."
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