George Russell did not hold back following a disappointing Saturday at the Belgian Grand Prix, declaring that Mercedes has regressed to F1’s midfield after another underwhelming performance in qualifying.
The Briton was left scratching his head after finishing sixth, nearly seven-tenths of a second behind pole-sitter Lando Norris in the grid-defining session.
Mercedes' struggles were compounded by a dismal showing from rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli, who was knocked out in Q1 and could do no better than 18th. The pair's struggles continued a frustrating weekend that also saw them fail to score in Saturday’s Sprint event.
“Clearly, as a team we're off the pace this weekend,” Russell told reporters. “Other than yesterday, this is my worst qualifying of the year, same for Kimi.
“So we need to understand what's going on.”
Falling Down the Order
Mercedes' form slump has deepened since the Canadian Grand Prix, where the team appeared to turn a corner with a podium double. Since then, however, results have tailed off sharply, and Ferrari has now leapfrogged the Silver Arrows squad for second in the Constructors’ championship.
Russell admitted that the team made minor overnight tweaks to the car following Friday’s sprint, but these yielded little benefit at a track where Mercedes won just last year.
©McLaren
“We made some small changes [after the sprint], but there's only so much you can do,” he explained.
“Historically, [in] sprint race weekends, if you have a bad sprint, if you turn the car upside down for the next day, it rarely works. So we made some sensible changes, but we just need to understand… in the first six races of the year, we were [on] four podiums.
“Now, we've had one in the last six. Clearly, we've taken a big step backwards towards the midfield.”
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Russell’s concern reflects a broader sense of urgency within Mercedes. While the early part of the 2025 season hinted at a recovery from two difficult campaigns, recent races have painted a different picture – one of a team progressively losing its grip on consistency and development pace.
Rain on the Horizon
With rain expected on Sunday, the race could yet offer opportunities for drivers starting further back. But Russell remains cautious, especially given Mercedes’ current aerodynamic setup.
“We're quite light on downforce. We were purple in sector 1 and 3,” he said, hinting at concerns over stability in the wet.
Mercedes now faces mounting pressure to regroup during the summer break. Unless the Brackley-based squad can quickly identify and reverse its slide, the second half of the season could see it embroiled in battles it once dominated from the front.
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