Russell to miss FP2 after manhole cover incident
Williams Formula 1 driver George Russell will miss second practice for the Azerbaijan GP after his collision with a loose manhole cover in FP1 damaged his chassis beyond immediate repair.
The incident led to the session being cancelled with only the two Ferrari drivers having set a flying laptime.
The spare FW42 chassis is now being built up but, under FIA regulations, if a driver makes a change, he cannot take part in another session on the same day.
In addition, some of Russell's Mercedes power unit elements are believed to have been damaged and may not be usable, which will move him closer to potential grid penalties.
In an extra blow for the Grove outfit Russell's teammate Robert Kubica is the only driver who has not run at Baku previously in either F1 or F2, and he is now also on the back foot having lost FP1 mileage.
"I think that when you send a car out on a race track that you should have the understanding that your car is not going to be damaged by that race track in that way," Claire Williams told Motorsport.com.
"I'm incredibly annoyed about it, clearly. The most important thing is that George is OK, and that it didn't cause what could potentially have been a bigger accident. We have to ask the FIA and FOM to ensure that it doesn't happen, and protect against it in the future.
"And for us as an independent team there are serious financial implications of this. We'd just taken the pressure out of the system and got ourselves back on an even keel. The chassis is split, and we have to revert to chassis 03.
"We're going to lose this afternoon's running, and we're potentially going to have to replace the ERS pack, which has again implications. It's just not OK.
"We had the same here in 2016 with Valtteri, coming into the pitlane I think it was. It wasn't as serious, but it was pretty significant."
After Romain Grosjean's Haas was damaged by a loose drain cover at the 2017 Malaysian GP the US-owned team successfully claimed compensation.
Asked if she would follow suit, Williams said: "I think that those are conversations that will happen."
Hydraulic fluid on the damaged car of George Russell, Williams Racing FW42
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images
Share Or Save This Story
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
George Russell announces engagement to long-term partner Carmen Montero Mundt
Emerson Fittipaldi explains why Kimi Antonelli-George Russell battle is good for F1
Why this looks like George Russell’s best chance yet at the British GP
100 not out: Alex Albon on Williams’s desire to atone for its 2026 struggles
James Vowles reveals Williams F1 cost cap struggle amid facility overhaul
F1 2026 mid-season grades: Williams takes shocking step backwards
The subtle but significant changes McLaren will make for its 2027 F1 car
Valtteri Bottas sees clear Cadillac progress amid challenging first F1 season
F1 2026 mid-season grades: Red Bull stumbles but summer rally shows glimmer of progress
Rob Smedley casts doubt on Haas's chances of becoming F1 frontrunners
Top 10 rookie seasons in F1
Why F1 shouldn’t be hiding its most interesting characters
100 not out: Alex Albon on Williams’s desire to atone for its 2026 struggles
Why it will “take years” for Cadillac to reach the level F1 rivals are operating at
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments