what happened to george russell in sakhir 2020

George Russell had a near-win in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, but Mercedes made a pit-stop mistake that put the wrong tyres on his car, and a later puncture ended his comeback. He finished ninth on the road after leading most of the race, and Mercedes was fined rather than Russell being disqualified.

What happened

Russell replaced Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes for that race and quickly took control, jumping into the lead at the start and staying there for much of the evening.

The turning point

A safety car triggered pit stops, and Mercedes accidentally fitted tyres meant for Valtteri Bottas onto Russell’s car.

Why it mattered

That mistake cost him the win, and a late puncture finished off any remaining chance of recovery.

Result

He crossed the line ninth, but the stewards later fined Mercedes €20,000 for the tyre mix-up instead of disqualifying Russell.

TL;DR: Russell was in position to win Sakhir 2020, but a Mercedes tyre error and then a puncture ruined it.