Mercedes will have 'a better idea' from Silverstone says George Russell

The weekends follow one another and are similar for the German team. In difficulty since the start of the season and relegated to the rank of third force in the field, Mercedes struggling to catch up on Ferrari et Red Bull, and his car should not evolve before Silverstone according to George Russell. And it is not the latter's podium in Baku that will reassure them. The problems remain, the questions remain unanswered, the language used race after race remains essentially the same, such as “we have to understand the car” or “trying to unlock performance”.

“We cannot continue to rely on the bad luck of others”

Despite Mercedes' performance problems, the team can count on the newcomer to provide the essentials. At the cost of impressive consistency, George Russell reached his third podium of the season in Baku – he is also the only driver to have finished in the top 5 of each Grand Prix since the start of the year. But sometimes appearances can be deceiving. The Mercedes has been on the podium four times in 2022, thanks to reliability setbacks with Red Bull or Ferrari.

“It's a championship where you have the opportunity to score points in every race and no matter how fast your car is, if you don't score those points, then your account is not going to increase, notes the young Briton. Like I said, great job by everyone in the factories to deliver a reliable car, but we can't keep relying on other people's bad luck, and we need to find more performance. That's what everyone tries to do their best. »

George's impressive run continues 🤩#AzerbaijanGP @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/cpdRV3mDly

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 13, 2022

No update for Canada

In addition to its performance problems, Mercedes is suffering from a deeper problem, which even affects its drivers physically: porpoising. In Baku, Lewis Hamilton seems to have paid the price. More than George Russell. This could be explained by the use of different parts and settings on the car of the seven-time world champion and that of his teammate, as well as by the condition of the track, bumpy in certain places and which would favor rebounds. single-seaters.

“I think the car is pretty good to drive, to be honest. The balance is good. The challenge was mostly bottoming, I think it doesn't matter what boat you are in, you have the porpoising and you hit the ground. And if you don't have porpoising, you lower the car a few millimeters off the ground, and you have tailgating. I feel it in my back right now.

READ ALSO: Lewis Hamilton will be present at the Canadian GP despite his back pain

Nevertheless, we must continue to work hard to find more performance and understand what we need to do to unlock it. I don't think we'll have any major updates or anything to try in Canada, but maybe for Silverstone we'll have a better idea. »

Despite almost a second per lap conceded to the two teams in front of it, Mercedes does not seem to despair in its quest for rebound (performance). On the contrary, its single-seater has nothing to envy of its other friends and everyone agrees that the single-seater model without a flat bottom seems the most efficient (from the point of view of the wind tunnel), that only Mercedes to adopt. But time is starting to seriously tick by on Brackley's side, who is seeing his competitors seriously slip away in the championship, especially Red Bull.

After a Canadian Grand Prix which will favor the teams with engine performance, the German team hopes to bounce back on British soil, the next meeting on date (July 3). This will probably be the last chance test for Mercedes, at Silverstone, on the land of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.