The 2024 Bahrain GP was a decent outing for George Russell. Despite facing pace issues with the car, the Briton managed to finish P5 behind both Red Bull and Ferrari cars. As he returned to the garage and took off his helmet, Russell revealed he wore a headband beneath his balaclava. Addressing the same in a video on his YouTube channel, F1 photographer Kym Illman revealed he spoke to Russell’s girlfriend, Carmen Mundt, to understand the reason behind it.
“Back in Qatar last year, it was so hot that he (Russell) was getting sweat beads in his eyes. So he arranged for one of these. He originally tried for something else – I think she said a bun, but that wasn’t fireproof, and that is important. This is fireproof.”, stated Illman.
Russell is one of the few drivers who have long hair on the grid. Given the same, sweat travels through the head to his hair and ends up causing trouble for the driver. It once even made Russell a laughingstock in front of the world.
At the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, Russell mistook his sweat for rain and asked his race engineer if anyone was reporting any rain. He soon figured out that it was his own sweat that was traveling down his hair and onto the inside of his visor. Once he took off the helmet, Russell joked about the rain clearing and the sun coming out.
Russell is currently working on removing all the small barriers that hinder his progress. His first season with the Silver Arrows saw him outperform Lewis Hamilton with ease. However, the 7X world champion took back the bragging rights in 2023 despite both of them failing to win even a single race. Now, with Hamilton leaving Mercedes, Russell needs to step up his game once more and compel Mercedes to look at him as an ideal lead driver.
Bahrain was a bag of mixed goodies for George Russell
Mercedes showed signs of good pace during the practice sessions in Bahrain. As Qualifying began, Russell was by far the faster Mercedes driver, hardly breaking a sweat to put his car in Q3. With Ferrari and Red Bull going neck to neck in Q3, it took a heroic effort from the #63 driver to spoil their party.
The Briton came out of nowhere to disrupt a Ferrari 2-3 to oust Carlos Sainz from P3. However, a lack of race pace from the Mercedes W15 meant the Spanish driver had the last laugh. The 29-year-old ended up finishing over 21 seconds ahead of Russell.
Even Charles Leclerc ended up getting the better of George Russell. Despite starting the race in P2, Leclerc fell down the line owing to a mechanical issue with his brakes. This allowed Russell and Sainz to move up in the rankings. However, he soon found a fix for his problem, and in Lap 47 of the race, he overtook a sluggish Russell.
Eventually, Russell finished in P5, seven seconds behind Leclerc. Aiming for resurgence, Mercedes needs to bring crucial upgrades to their car, and quickly, so they can avoid running into similar situations often.
