George Russell claims that contemporary F1 is merely a case of who makes it to Turn 1 first.

"Right now in F1 it's a race to Turn 1," the Mercedes driver told Sky Sports following Sunday's United States GP. "There's no tyre degradation, there's only three-tenths between the quickest car and the slowest car in the top six.

"Normally, you need at least half a second to overtake," he added, "so if I came out of Turn 1 in P3, I'd have been on the podium today. But instead I came out in P6 and I finished P6."

Ignoring the fact that there were no complaints from Russell after leading the field into Turn 1 from pole in Canada and Singapore, going on to win both races, his claim is supported by the fact that 13 of this year's races thus far have been won from pole. However, the fact is that this is the whole point of the coveted position.

Despite the various attempts to create the sort of constant wheel-to-wheel battles usually only seen in TV trailers for the races, the fact is that the sport's reliance on aero makes this almost impossible.

Tyres have also been blamed, but the fact is that while the likes of Pirelli could - indeed can - provide tyres that last the full race, they are forced instead to provide rubber that deliberately degrades thereby creating the need for pit stops, further spice added by the provision of different compounds.

Russell feels that it is wrong to blame Pirelli.

"Pirelli get a hard time, no matter what," he said. "When there's lots of degradation, people say it's not real, the drivers can't push when we have to manage, then we don't like it when there's no tyre degradation, we say it's a boring race.

"They don't seem to be able to win in any case, so realistically you want a tyre that you can push full gas, but it doesn't go the whole race If you could choose the tyre, it's a tyre you can go flat out, but after 15 laps it falls off a cliff and you have to do a two or three-stop race.

"Ideally, the soft tyre does 12 laps, the medium tyre does 15 laps and the hard tyre does 20 laps and then it falls off the cliff. But that is a lot easier said than done," he admitted.

"Pirelli get a very hard time, they do their best, they have given us a substantially better tyre, like this tyre is very good, but it causes bad racing."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 22/10/2025 14:43

"Bring back refueling.

Award points for Qualifying. Back running team could qualify on fumes to get out front with a few points. Would shake up the start."

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2. Posted by Chester, 22/10/2025 12:20

"@Burton, I think you are entirely correct on changing the aero rules to reduce porpoising.

@Team Hack, I did see COTA as a chess move. Mosley was right. The turn one melee at the Sprint race was a decisive move, producing a sea change in the WDC race. What required a near miracle for Verstappen has now appeared as "hey, this might be possible"."

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3. Posted by Team Hack, 22/10/2025 10:47

"How about all track edges are normal tarmac but with sensors buried into them which will trigger an infringement.
The sensors then cut the power/revs to the offending car by say 5% for 10 seconds.
No arguments, no stewards, no bad feeling amongst the drivers.
"

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4. Posted by kenji, 22/10/2025 1:19

"I would certainly embrace competetive tyre suppliers. Furthermore why not simply have just two compounds,hard and soft with neither lasting a full race distance. Teams can do as they please regarding pitstops.Carting a 747 full of hard tyres to COTA was simply a waste of money and resources. COTA is one of my favourite tracks but last weekend was simply mainly boring and it needn't have been."

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5. Posted by Team Hack, 21/10/2025 19:09

"Essentially George is right.
It’s a rush up to the first corner and the rest is usually a yawn fest. Let’s face it we have had some pretty dull ‘follow my leader’ afternoons this year.
Although there has been the odd skirmish or moments of brain fade, I am reminded of Max Mosley’s assumption that we should look upon each race as a game of Chess. I find I can do that, it works to a degree allowing me to nod off a little later than normal!
"

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6. Posted by KKK, 21/10/2025 18:27

"Put sand or gravel as the track limit. Hit them with any wheel and you spin out. Bring back the v10's, put on steel brakes and simplify front and rear wings. Then and only then will the best drivers overtake and bring back racing, not a processions like now. F1 has become BORING"

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7. Posted by BillH, 21/10/2025 17:36

"Bring back a tire war with the tire companies allowed to pay for in season testing for rookies/reserve drivers.
This could be done on the Monday after a GP and not subject to budget caps or any component restrictions.
The teams are already at the track, less marshals are needed etc. so it shouldn't cost too much.

I'm not sure why the FIA hasn't mandated that all dry compounds taken to a race need to be used.

There's another pit stop right there and more strategy options and the tires have been carted all the way round the world so might as well be used."

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8. Posted by Burton, 21/10/2025 17:28

"When the FIA introduced the oscillating metric that should have been it for the teams complaining of porpoising...but George's own team were the most vocal lobbying for further changes, the FIA stupidly relented, raised the floors, allowed more sculptured edges and winglets creating turbulence, and so they defeated the whole purpose of the ground effect formula. So, more things for George to thank Toto for (together with making him waste 3 years of his career driving those shitb*x Williams)"

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9. Posted by dejan, 21/10/2025 15:45

"I didn't see him complain about the turn one issue in Singapore..."

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10. Posted by Superbird70, 21/10/2025 13:13

"Maybe reverse grids would cheer George up."

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11. Posted by Max Noble, 21/10/2025 9:45

"I’d have won if it were not for those in front of me! Yup, classic line from silver medal down…

If we re-ignite a tyre war we’d get real racing. If we built tracks where exceeding track limits would doom your lap time, but not kill you, we could forget track limit issues. What to do…?
"

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F1 merely a race to Turn 1, says Russell

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