Russell outpaced by rivals' 'tyre age offset' in Saudi Arabian GP

George Russell blamed his overheating hard tyres in his second stint for his disappointing run to P5 in Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

The Mercedes driver has so far impressed in 2025, claiming three podiums in the opening four Grands Prix and a best result of second place at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

It looked as though the Briton could challenge for a podium once again in Saudi Arabia after placing his W16 in third during qualifying on Saturday. Russell went as far as to say that he felt he could have claimed pole position were it not for a poor final sector on his final flying lap.

Unfortunately the race didn't go to plan for Russell. The fundamental pace of previous race weekends was missing, and it was clear that the 27-year-old was struggling for grip around the street circuit in the latter half of the Grand Prix.

The 50-lap event was won by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc completing the podium.

Tyres Dropped Off The Cliff

In a press release by Mercedes, Russell revealed that his tyres were getting too hot during the race, resulting in a loss of grip around the many fast corners of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

"Tonight was all about the tyres and unfortunately, ours were suffering from overheating. I was pushing to stay with Verstappen at the start of the second stint, but it quickly became clear that we weren't going to be able to hang on.

"I tried to manage the tyres a little more but, with the tyre age offset they had built, Leclerc and Norris were able to move ahead.

"After that, my tyres dropped off the cliff and it was all about just bringing the car home in P5.

"Ultimately, we didn't have the pace today. Even if we had managed more at different points, that was the maximum available to us this evening," conceded Russell.

The Mercedes driver divulged that tyre overheating is something that the W16 struggles with.

He continued: "We will take the positives we can from this weekend. We know that tyre overheating is a weakness of our car at the moment.

"Everyone is focused on improving that. We will have to accept coming home fifth on a bad day but we all want to make steps in that area, and quickly."

Read Also: Piastri prevails in Saudi Arabian GP – takes championship lead

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