George Russell was not current for media and engineering duties initially of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend as he offers with sickness.
The Mercedes driver traveled to Baku on Wednesday however was not deemed nicely sufficient to attend the beginning of the weekend’s actions within the paddock on Thursday. A staff spokesperson stated: “George is unwell so sadly will not be at observe at this time, as he is resting up forward of tomorrow’s observe motion.”
Drivers are required to participate in obligatory media duties on a Thursday of a race weekend, and infrequently have each engineering and advertising and marketing commitments earlier than the beginning of observe operating on a Friday. Russell’s absence comes initially of the flyaway rounds, with the ultimate eight races exterior of Europe.
Russell is presently fourth within the drivers’ championship, 36 factors behind Max Verstappen and 31 forward of Charles Leclerc within the standings.
FP1 begins at 12:30pm native time in Azerbaijan on Friday, and Mercedes is assured Russell will likely be match sufficient to participate in the remainder of the race weekend. Ought to he not be, reserve driver Valtteri Bottas is current in Baku and will step in for so long as he’s required. The Finn is a former race winner on the Baku Metropolis Circuit, taking victory within the 2019 race.
