Damon Hill drops 5-word reaction to George Russell's blunt criticism of the current state of F1

Former F1 driver Damon Hill dropped a five-word reaction as he seemingly agreed with George Russell's criticism of the current state of racing in Formula 1. The Mercedes driver commented that the races feature less overtaking action because of the lack of tire degradation, along with other reasons.

It is no secret that the racing in F1 has become monotonous in recent years, with driver positions barely changing. Most races feature the maximum overtakes within the first few laps, especially for the victory. This was also the race in COTA earlier this month during the US GP, when Max Verstappen won the race after leading for all laps.

Commenting on the current state of competitiveness on the grid, George Russell claimed that the races mostly last till the first corner of the tracks. He further mentioned that this was because of the lack of tire degradation that the current Pirellis feature.

"Right now in F1 it's a race to Turn 1," Russell told Sky F1. "There's no tyre degradation, there's only three tenths between the quickest car and the slowest car in the top six."

"Normally, you need at least half a second to overtake, so if I came out of Turn 1 in P3, I'd have been on the podium today. But instead I came out in P6 and I finished P6."

Reacting to his statement, former driver Damon Hill dropped a five-word reaction on his Instagram story, writing:

"Bit depressing. What to do?"

Damon Hill reacts to George Russell's criticism of F1's current state of racing (@96f1champ on Instagram)

Interestingly, Russell started the United States GP and dropped to P6 after the first corner, conceding position to a McLaren and a Ferrari, and ultimately finished in the same place, 33 seconds off of Verstappen.

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George Russell reveals expectations from Pirelli tires

Tire management in motorsports can be a tricky skill to master. However, the current tires that Pirelli provides, as Russell claimed, take way too long to degrade. The difference between the soft and medium tires is often too small to notice, which affects the strategic part of racing.

George Russell mentioned that Pirelli has a tough time making the right tire compound. This is primarily because the tires that do not last long make it difficult for drivers to push for a long time, and the long-lasting ones make the race boring.

"Pirelli get a hard time, no matter what," Russell said. "[When] there's lots of tyre degradation, people say it's not real, the drivers can't push when we have to manage ... [then] we don't like that when there's no tyre degradation, we say it's a boring race."

He then explained what he considers to be a good racing tire:

"They don't seem to be able to win in any case, so realistically you want a tyre that you can push full gas, but it doesn't go the whole race If you could choose the tyre, it's a tyre you can go flat out, but after 15 laps it falls off a cliff and you have to do a two or three-stop race."

George Russell has been a strong driver this season. He has assisted in putting Mercedes in second place in the Constructors' Championship with two race wins in Canada and Singapore.