Mercedes reveal unusual issue that compromised end to Russell’s race in Barcelona George Russell started his 100th Grand Prix for Mercedes on pole position, but the Briton’s race was far from smooth. Mercedes have shared how George Russell was battling a “very, very oversteery” car in the closing stages of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, due to an “incorrect” balance adjustment during his final pit stop. Russell finished Sunday’s race in second position, behind Ferrari rival Lewis Hamilton, with Mercedes opting for a two-stop approach and the Scuderia going aggressive on a three-stop plan – making their final pit lane visit under the Virtual Safety Car. That was after championship leader Kimi Antonelli – who had passed Russell with five laps to go, having appeared more comfortable behind the wheel as the race wore on – ground to a halt and retired amid technical problems. Reflecting on the encounter in Mercedes’ post-Barcelona debrief video, Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord said: “In theory that is a race we could have won. We had really strong pace with George on the medium tyre in the opening stint, and Kimi was very strong on the hard tyres in stints two and three, where George was a bit less comfortable with the car. “But we could only have won it if we’d have got everything right. We lost race time with the two drivers fighting each other in that second stint, and then also in the third stint. Obviously with Kimi, ultimately we had a reliability failure that cost him any chance of finishing at all. “It’s true to say, Ferrari were a little bit fortunate with the VSC that put Lewis out on track ahead of our cars at that final pit stop. Had that not happened, then he’d have had to fight his