SHANGHAI, March 14 : George Russell said Formula One’s new engine and chassis regulations made racing feel more like karting after the Mercedes driver won Saturday’s Chinese Grand Prix sprint race following an early duel with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Russell started on pole but was overtaken by the seven-times world champion on the opening lap, with the former teammates using the new electric-powered ‘Boost’ and ‘Overtake’ modes at different points on the track to trade positions over the first seven laps.
The Ferrari driver twice passed the championship leader into the Shanghai International Circuit’s sweeping Turn 1 but Russell regained the place on the long back straight, turning the opening third of the 19-lap sprint into a battle of strategic energy deployment until Hamilton’s tyres faded.
“There’s a lot going on, but it makes it quite fun and definitely feels more like a go-kart race in the past,” Russell told reporters.
“I don’t ever remember Formula One being like that, where you have three or four cars fighting for the same position.”
Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished second, was also involved in the scrap at the front.
The new regulations have resulted in lighter and smaller cars, with the minimum weight cut to 768kg from 800kg last year, and the chassis made shorter and narrower.
Not all the drivers are enjoying the rules reset, however.
Williams’ Carlos Sainz told reporters on Thursday he felt the new energy-assisted overtakes were “not the DNA of the sport.”
“It’s a not a real overtake of Formula One, and anything that allows you to do that … you can call it artificial,” he added.
