F1 News: George Russell Warns Of Mercedes Pace - "Falling Away From Us"
George Russell has warned that the pace of Mercedes' W15 is declining following his sixth-place finish in the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He revealed of not having an answer for the drop in pace, owing to the "complicated" cars of the ground effect era.
Key Takeaways:
- George Russell expresses concern over Mercedes' declining pace in the 2024 season, citing complexities with the ground effect era cars.
- In the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Russell finished sixth behind Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, and Charles Leclerc.
- Despite strong showings in practice sessions, Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton have struggled in qualifying and races, indicating broader issues with Mercedes' setup.
Russell trailed behind race winner Max Verstappen by nearly 40 seconds in Saudi Arabia, with Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc rounding out the podium. McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso also managed to outpace him.
Thus, something is seriously amiss with Mercedes' setup of its cars for qualifying and race after Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton witnessed positive results in Free Practice runs in Bahrain and Jeddah.
In the Bahrain season opener, Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 in FP2, and Russell secured third place in qualifying, ultimately finishing fifth in the Grand Prix. Similarly, in Jeddah, Russell was the second fastest during FP2 but qualified seventh, only to finish in the sixth position.
Thus, with the notion that the W15 has been slowing down, Russell told the media:
“We're still really trying to understand this car because we have shown true performance at points over the last two weekends.
“FP1, straight out of the box, we were top of the timesheets and always in the top three. FP2, P2. Then, both weekends, the pace just falling away from us.
“That hasn't been our competitors getting faster; that's been us getting slower. So, we need to understand why that is. But it's fine margins now.
“It’s so close with ourselves, McLaren, Aston. Charles [Leclerc, Ferrari] is just a smidge ahead. We just need to tap into it a bit more.”
Mercedes Press Image
Both Mercedes drivers had complained of a bouncing problem in Jeddah, which was more prominent in their 2022 and 2023 cars. However, Russell thinks there is more to the problem. He added:
“I think there's more to it.
“It's so complex these days. These cars are so complicated.
“When you couple that with the tyres, the tyres are very difficult as well. Right now, I don't have the answers.”