Mercedes assigns new race engineer to Russell's car

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Mercedes has opted to tweak George Russell's engineering team ahead of the start of the 2023 season.

Last year, Russell's maiden campaign with Mercedes, the Briton was guided on race day by the voice of Riccardo Musconi, the man who had previously worked with Valtteri Bottas at the Brackley squad.

The pair enjoyed a strong year together, with the duo outscoring Lewis Hamilton's side of the Mercedes garage and Russell snatching his maiden Grand Prix win, a feat achieved in the penultimate round of the 2022 championship in Brazil.

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Hamilton: Some 'balance limitations' from last year present in W14

Despite the success, Mercedes has chosen to assign Marcus Dudley to Russell's car, with Musconi moving to a different role within the team.

Dudley was previously a performance engineer for the team who also acted as a substitute race engineer when required, as was the case at last years' Austrian Grand Prix where the Briton filled in for Peter 'Bono' Bonnington, Lewis Hamilton's long-standing race engineer.

Mercedes qualified its pre-season test in Bahrain last week as satisfactory overall, despite a problematic second day of running marked by mid-corner balance issues and a hydraulic failure on its W14 car while Russell was on driving duty.

On paper, after last week's test, Mercedes is clearly still positioned behind Red Bull and perhaps even behind Ferrari in terms of outright performance.

But Russell is confident that the German outfit will eventually put itself in the mix.

"I think we definitely believe eventually we will have a car capable of getting in that fight, whether we’re going to have that next weekend in Bahrain, I think may be a bit of a stretch," commented Russell last weekend.

"They look very strong, they look very stable, the car is looking really strong and obviously Max is performing really well, so I think realistically it will be a stretch for next week, but there’s no reason why eventually we can’t get there at some point this year."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.