Russell P6 a bright spot in Austin but W15 car still 'unpredictable'

Mercedes left Austin with mixed emotions and a sense of frustration after a weekend that showcased once again both the potential and the unpredictability of their W15 car.

Starting from compromised positions, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton faced uphill battles, but while the former salvaged a respectable P6 finish, the latter’s race ended prematurely with a rare spin on Lap 3.

Russell’s weekend started poorly with a crash in qualifying that destroyed key components on his car, forcing the Brackley squad to revert to an older specification and start from the pitlane. Despite these setbacks, the young Brit was pleased with his recovery.

“Definitely pleased with [Sunday], no doubt,” Russell said.

“Starting from the pitlane, not really sure what we were going to have during the race, and especially going back to a floor that we ran in Canada 10 races ago, more I guess.

“To end up P6 ahead of a Red Bull as well, that was really great. Obviously you always question what could have been.”

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Still, the unpredictability of the W15 silver arrow left Russell and the team searching for answers.

“We’re dealing with a difficult car at the moment,” Russell continued.

“Lewis never really makes any mistakes and you saw [on Sunday] he had the exact same thing as what happened to me [a day earlier]. That’s the beast we’re dealing with right now.

“I’m looking forward to things being a little bit calmer or consistent because you just don’t know what you’re going to get every time you go out. We’re all on this emotional rollercoaster.

“Clearly the car has the potential to be fighting right at the front, but when we are in that position we don’t really know why we are.

“When we’re not, we also don’t really know why we’re not. It’s just a real challenge to unpick it and understand it.”

Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin, echoed Russell’s sentiments, acknowledging that the weekend had not gone as hoped.

"Given that we had one car starting at the back and one in the pit lane, we had realistic expectations as to what could be achieved,” commented Shov.

“Lewis made a good start and was quickly up to P12. Unfortunately, that didn't last long as he lost the rear in turn 19. We're still investigating what caused that, but in any case, his race was over.

"George was making steady progress through the field in his first stint, but it still took him until the halfway point to get any clear air to judge pace.

“Encouragingly, the car was hanging on to its tyres well and that was allowing us to extend. P6 was the best he could have achieved, and he drove a good race to get there.

"As a team we have underachieved across the weekend and are under no illusions that we need to do better.”

Mercedes’ new update package showed promise, but the team was unable to fully assess its potential due to the disruptions in their running.

“We've not had a single clean session, and we'll leave here not knowing what we could have done if we'd started near the front with a car in our latest aero specification,” added the Mercedes engineer.

“We will look to answer that question next weekend in Mexico."

As for Wolff, the Mercedes team principal acknowledged the struggles but remained optimistic about the car’s capabilities, despite its inconsistencies.

"It has been a tough weekend overall here in Austin," he said. "We see that there is pace in the car, as was shown on Friday and with George in the race, but we are still dealing with its inconsistency."

Wolff praised Russell’s fightback from the pitlane, highlighting the team’s efforts to revert the car’s specification and commending the Briton’s drive on the hard compound tyre, which helped extend his stint.

"George drove a strong race and was particularly quick on the Hard compound," Wolff noted. "That enabled us to extend his first stint and ultimately claim P6 in the final few laps."

However, Hamilton’s early exit from the race was a bitter blow. The seven-time champion lost the car after a gust of wind, combined with dirty air, caused a spin, something Wolff described as highly uncharacteristic for the veteran driver.

“We need to look at that, and what happened with George [on Saturday], to understand why the car reacted like that,” the Austrian said.

“Lewis Hamilton is not a driver that loses a car like that on lap two of a race, so there is something there that we need to understand."

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