“It’s Black Magic”: Furious George Russell Lambasts Pirelli for Its Tires

George Russell was once again the biggest beneficiary of two drivers fighting at the front and crashing out. He secured the last podium place once Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz took each other out of the Azerbaijan GP. However, despite the surprise positive outcome, he expressed his concerns about the volatile nature of the Pirelli tires.

The Mercedes man highlighted how the race pace completely changed with the medium and hard compounds. In his post-race interview, Russell first highlighted how the pace completely changed in the second stint after putting on the hard tires.

He said, “We just went from a yellow tire to a white tire and honestly it’s actually pretty infuriating that it changes this much. One session you’re fast, the next you’re not and it’s only one thing that changes. It is black magic. I think even the people who make the tires don’t understand the tires.”  

George with some strong words about the Pirelli tyres

GR: Honestly, it’s actually pretty infuriating that it changes this much. (…) It is a black magic. I think even the people who make the tyres, don’t understand the tyres… pic.twitter.com/1624SFt0ZW

— h ⋆ (@russellius) September 15, 2024

Russell also highlighted it’s not only Mercedes facing this issue. Every driver and every team is limited by the capabilities and behavior of a tire compound on a particular circuit. This was made evident by the W15’s performance on the medium compound compared to the hard. On the medium tires, the Briton was 1.5 seconds off the pace, and on the hards he was almost a second faster than everyone in front of him.

This volatile nature needs to be studied. However, as the 26-year-old said, even Pirelli might not have answers. This lingering issue and the nature of the tires often play a crucial role in races and make the sport extremely tire-dependent, not giving enough weightage to the car and or the driver. This is exactly why Russell believes there needs to be a serious conversation.

Russell explains the performance contrast, demanding answers from Pirelli

The Mercedes man is demanding answers from F1’s official tire manufacturers. He wants to understand why is there such a big gap in performance between the two compounds. While the track asphalt and characteristics have a major influence on tire behavior, there needs to be a serious conversation between Pirelli and the teams to resolve any persisting anomalies.

Russell highlighted that by saying, “We’ve got 2,000 people working their b*tts off to deliver the fastest car, and 20 laps of the race we had a car that was comfortable of fighting for victory. The 20 other laps we had a car that probably shouldn’t have been in the points and the only difference is the tires and it’s not good enough really.”

The tires have been a topic of contention for years now, particularly concerning tire pressures, abrasion, and temperatures. Pirelli keeps testing new compounds and technology to make the tires better and eradicate all complaints. However, for now, there are new issues that keep popping up. For now, they’re staying tight-lipped regarding Russell’s accusations as well.