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Karun Chandhok claims George Russell shares the same weaknesses as Oscar Piastri in the F1 title race, particularly on low-grip circuits. Piastri lost a significant lead last season due to similar challenges.
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Karun Chandhok believes George Russell is facing similar issues to those Oscar Piastri dealt with last year, particularly on low-grip circuits.
Piastri was up by 34 points with 10 races left in the season but ended up trailing his teammate Lando Norris by 13 points when it was all said and done.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella didnât put it down to pressure. Instead, he pointed to a more technical reason, explaining that Piastri struggled to drive naturally on slicker tracks like Azerbaijan, Mexico, and Brazil.
Russell labelled the Miami Grand Prix as one of his weaker venues, and after qualifying four-tenths behind pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli, he told Chandhok on Sky Sports that the car felt like it was on extremely worn tyres.
âIâm quite a smooth, precise driver and thatâs always been my style,â he said. âOn these tracks, youâve got to be happy with the car sliding. I like the car on the edge, but this is like youâve got a set of 200-lap-old tyres on the car, and itâs just sliding, oversteering, understeering.
âThatâs the same for everybody. Itâs so hot, tyre pressures are high, the gripâs really low, so it doesnât actually feel that pleasant, whereas you go to tracks like Saudi and the gripâs super high, it feels mega to drive and thatâs where I [excel].â
The Sky Sports pundit saw similarities between Russellâs comments and what Piastri experienced during his title battle with Lando Norris.
âIt sounds like Oscar and Lando,â Chandhok said. âThis is what Oscar was saying: heâs super smooth and struggles at low-grip tracks. At least you know where [the weakness] is.â
Russell has had some legitimate reasons for dropping points in China and Japan earlier this season. But in Miami there was no such excuse â this time he was outperformed without any clear mitigating factors.
George Russell is believed to struggle on low-grip circuits, similar to the issues Oscar Piastri faced last season.
Oscar Piastri was leading by 34 points but ultimately fell behind Lando Norris by 13 points due to difficulties on slicker tracks.
Andrea Stella attributed Piastri's struggles not to pressure but to technical difficulties in driving on specific circuits.
Piastri faced difficulties on slicker tracks such as Azerbaijan, Mexico, and Brazil during the F1 season.
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Speaking on the F1 Show, Chandhok drew a direct line between Russell and Piastri, highlighting their shared difficulties. âYou could have copy and pasted Oscar from Austin, Mexico last year,â he said. âIt was basically the same thing. I mean, what happens on these lower grip circuits is you get a lot more lateral movement.
âIf you look at that sector from turn four down to turn eight, Kimi was consistently quicker than George in qualifying. Thatâs where he was making up chunks of time and through that whole section, especially this year, we have to remember the carâs got 30 percent less downforce.
âThey are sliding on the top surface of the tyre a bit more. And the drivers are having to manage that movement by balancing their hands and feet, the car is alive and dancing.â
Piastri had outqualified Norris at each of the first three races, but Norris outpaced him by over four-tenths on Saturday. He also got the better of the Australian throughout the Sprint portion of the weekend.
The gap between the two drivers at the chequered flag, with Norris second and Piastri third, was nearly 24 seconds.
âI think George and Oscar were perhaps less comfortable [in Miami],â said Chandhok. âIf you look at the gap between Oscar and Lando throughout this weekend, it was massive.â
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