The Mercedes is “very difficult to drive” according to Russell
George Russell has reflected on the performances of the Mercedes that are so difficult to understand. The British driver, who had a good start to the season, still doesn't understand what is missing in the W13 to compete with the best.
Who would have thought that Mercedes would be so far from the best at the beginning of this season? The German team had dominated the sport for eight years to such an extent that it seemed utopian to see their hegemony come to such an abrupt halt. After losing their first driver’s title since 2014 last year, Mercedes consoled themselves with the constructor’s title. But this season, it already seems highly unlikely to see the silver arrows join the fight for the world championship.
A situation that is explained by a difficult-to-understand W13. The new Mercedes is not disastrous, since the Germans are third in the championship, but the team seems to struggle to understand what is not working, as the car never performs in the same way from one session to another.
But for George Russell, who has just arrived, all is not lost and the car’s potential is substantial.
« Yes, the performance is there, we just need to try to unlock it, I think we still don’t really understand why it’s so unpredictable,” explains the Brit. « Toto [Wolff] often uses the word diva, but I think it’s an understatement, because it’s so unpredictable. When it starts bouncing in the corners, it’s very difficult to drive.
Interviewed by Autosport about the reasons for the current lack of performance of the W13, George Russell doesn’t know how to explain it.
I would like to give you an honest answer. We have the brightest engineers in the industry working day and night to try to understand, and we still don’t have a clear answer as to why. So we need to continue analyzing, and I think this weekend could prove to be one of the most important when we look back. George Russell hopes so.
Despite the difficulties faced by Hamilton and Russell with the W13, Mercedes is currently in third place in the standings. The seven-time world champion did not have a brilliant start to the season but managed to secure a podium finish in Bahrain. Russell, on the other hand, quickly adapted to his new team and also climbed the podium in Australia.
The former Williams driver is mostly praised for his consistency, as he is the only driver to have finished every race in the Top 5 this season. Despite this, Mercedes seems several notches behind Red Bull and Ferrari, and the result in Miami (5th and 6th) is representative of Mercedes’ level for Russell.
« I think that fifth and sixth is where we deserve to be. Obviously, we have probably underperformed on some other circuits, especially on Saturdays, which makes things difficult for our Sundays. This weekend as well, we have shown the most promises, but we are still far from where we want to be. » explains the British.
