Russell: Williams 'very fortunate' to have spare car in Baku

George Russell says that Williams is lucky to have a third chassis available to it at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Russell will race the remainder of the weekend in Williams' spare car after a loose manhole cover destroyed the underside of his FW42 in the opening minutes of free practice one on Friday.

The incident cut short the session for all teams, and Russell was forced to sit out the afternoon session as Williams worked on his car to get it prepared for Saturday.

"I’ll go into tomorrow trying to make the most of our session,” said Russell. “But obviously we don’t have our spare car now.

“Obviously you don’t plan to crash or do anything stupid like that. But the spare car is there for a reason, you’d want to try to go to a spare car when it’s truly needed from something of your own doing, let’s say, and this is completely out of our hands.

“So they’re very fortunate we had that here or else we wouldn’t be racing.”

Lack of spare parts

Williams has had a problem with a lack of spare parts so far this year, with Russell and teammate Robert Kubica being told to drive with care at the opening races of the season.

Russell described how the incident felt from inside the car, stating the built-in fire extinguisher was so cold that it was almost burning him.

“It just came out of nowhere," the Mercedes junior said. "You can’t see these drains really when you’re going that fast down the straights and you’ve got so many on the track it’s just normal to run over them.

“The second I did there was a huge bang. I didn’t feel anything through my back so that was good but I could tell it ripped the floor off, it set the fire extinguisher off and because of that the car ended up turning off.

"The fire extinguisher was so cold it was almost burning me so I didn’t know what was going on at that point.

“So I just jumped out as quick as I could. It’s just an unnecessary amount of pain, damage, a lot of costs [are] going to be incurred because of this incident. It’s frustrating for all of us.”

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Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
14 - Mar 16 2025
Australia
21 - Mar 23 2025
China
4 - Apr 6 2025
Japan
11 - Apr 13 2025
Bahrain
18 - Apr 20 2025
Saudi Arabia
2 - May 4 2025
United States of America
16 - May 18 2025
Italy
23 - May 25 2025
Monaco
30 - Jun 1 2025
Spain
13 - Jun 15 2025
Canada
27 - Jun 29 2025
Austria
4 - Jul 6 2025
United Kingdom
25 - Jul 27 2025
Belgium
1 - Aug 3 2025
Hungary
29 - Aug 31 2025
Netherlands
5 - Sep 7 2025
Italy
19 - Sep 21 2025
Azerbaijan
3 - Oct 5 2025
Singapore
17 - Oct 19 2025
United States of America
24 - Oct 26 2025
Mexico
7 - Nov 9 2025
Brazil
21 - Nov 23 2025
United States of America
28 - Nov 30 2025
Qatar
5 - Dec 7 2025
United Arab Emirates
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
14 - Mar 16 2025
Australia Albert Park
21 - Mar 23 2025
4 - Apr 6 2025
11 - Apr 13 2025
18 - Apr 20 2025
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
2 - May 4 2025
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
16 - May 18 2025
23 - May 25 2025
Monaco Monte Carlo
30 - Jun 1 2025
13 - Jun 15 2025
27 - Jun 29 2025
Austria Red Bull Ring
4 - Jul 6 2025
United Kingdom Silverstone
25 - Jul 27 2025
1 - Aug 3 2025
Hungary Hungaroring
29 - Aug 31 2025
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
5 - Sep 7 2025
Italy Monza
19 - Sep 21 2025
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
3 - Oct 5 2025
17 - Oct 19 2025
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
24 - Oct 26 2025
7 - Nov 9 2025
Brazil Interlagos
21 - Nov 23 2025
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
28 - Nov 30 2025
5 - Dec 7 2025
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
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Driver profile

  • Team Mercedes
  • Points 1,032
  • Podiums 24
  • Grand Prix 152
  • Country GB
  • Date of b. Feb 15 1998 (27)
  • Place of b. King's Lynn, GB
  • Weight 70 kg
  • Length 1.85 m
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