Russell: Mercedes now ‘fighting for P5-P8 week in, week out’

George Russell foresees a challenging period ahead for Mercedes as the team has no significant revisions in the pipeline for its troubled W15 in the short term.

In Maimi last weekend, the Brackley squad introduced an updated floor body on its car but the change appeared to offer a limited benefit.

Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were eliminated in Q2 of sprint qualifying, failing to score points in the shortened race.

While both drivers managed to reach the final top-ten shootout in Saturday’s qualifying, they were eight-tenths adrift of poleman Max Verstappen.

The main race offered some consolation, with Hamilton managing to salvage a P6 finish. However, Russell endured a difficult afternoon and ended up down in P8, highlighting Mercedes’ ongoing challenges this season.

Russell reckons that the former championship winning outfit is heading into a “painful few weeks” due to its relative status quo on the development front.

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“McLaren qualified P17 and P18 twelve months ago in Miami, and they won, so it shows what is possible when you get things right," Russell commented after last weekend’s event.

“But right now, we don't have things right and need to make changes quickly.

“We do have a few things coming in the short-term but nothing in the short-term that is going to transform us into race winners.

“So it is going to be painful for a few weeks. I think we have to accept that we are the fourth fastest-team.

“The lap-times and the championship don't lie, this is where we are and I think we're fighting for the P5-P8 region week in, week out.”

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff conveyed perhaps a more optimistic view of the team’s state of affairs, ensuring that its engineers have a good understanding of the W15’s core issues and that the development process to address these problems with new car parts is well underway.

“I think we understand much more what is needed to get the car in a better place because it’s so clear now what it does and why we struggle and where we struggle,” Wolff said, quoted by Motorsport Week.

“In Formula 1 you can accelerate development and produce the beats and we’re flat out. The design office is all in. The production operations are flat out.

“The rest has been doing a good job. All of the factories are really sixth gear in order to bring stuff to the car that we believe can be very helpful.”

Wolff cautioned however against rushing the design process as this could compromise the effectiveness of the upgrades. The team’s priority is to ensure that the new parts deliver the intended performance gains.

“I think we know what we do,” added the Austrian.

“In terms of what they’re bringing to the car, you can’t really rush it because you’ve got to get to the point where you say now it’s good to be released into production.

“And once that part comes, or once it’s come, they need to be sorted. So this is a matter of many weeks.”

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