George Russell has proposed an "off the cliff" solution to F1's growing problem with dull races, as he expressed his frustration at the United States GP.
Having qualified fourth, Russell was jumped at Turn 1 by the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and McLaren of Oscar Piastri to run sixth, which is where he finished the one-stop race.
Drivers were able to use the C3 and C4 medium and soft tyres in Austin, with the C4 red-walled rubber proving a strong race tyre, with most teams avoiding the hard C1 compound owing to its unsuitability and lack of grip.
Although there were some good battles through the field, a lack of tyre degradation is leading to an increase in one-stop races, with the last non-mandated or non-wet two-stop race being the 2024 Spanish GP.
Pirelli had tried to develop a new tyre - the softest C6 for 2025, but feedback has been mixed from drivers, with other steps such as missing compound steps, such as the C1, C3, and C4 being used in Austin and the increase of the pit-lane speed limit all being trialled to try and force team into two-stop races.
Analysing the situation, Russell felt he was always going to finish where he exited Turn 1 at Austin, as he proposed an "off the click" solution, which he acknowledged was "easier said than done."
"It was quite frustrating, but I had the feeling before the race that wherever you finish, Turn 1 is going to be where you finish, and unfortunately, this turned out to be the case," Russell told media including RacingNews365.
"If I had come out of Turn 1 in P4, due to Charles' strategy, maybe I could have finished P3, but the thing is now is that there is no tyre degradation, there is no tyre delta, and between the fastest and slowest car in the top six, there is maybe two or three-tenths of difference.
"Every track you go to, you need at least half a second to overtake, and that's why you're not seeing any overtakes. I don't even remember the last two stop races"
When asked if he would have conversations with Pirelli after its recent experiments in skipping tyre compounds, Russell was keen to avoid criticising the manufacturer.
"Firstly, Pirelli get a really hard time, no matter what. If there is lots of tyre degradation, people say it is not real, the drivers can't push, and we have to manage, and we don't like that," he added.
"Then, when there is no tyre degradation, we say it is a boring race, so they don't seem to be able to win in any case. Realistically, you want a tyre that you can push, but doesn't go the whole car.
"If you could choose a tyre, you go flat out, and after 15 laps you fall off a cliff, and have to do a two or three-stop race, and ideally the soft tyres are 12 laps, the medium tyre is 15 laps, and the hard tyre is 20 laps, and then it falls off the cliff.
"But that is a lot easier said than done, and they get a hard time and do their best, but they have given us a substantially better tyre, it is good, but it causes bad racing."
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