Mercedes struggled to compete with leaders Red Bull and Ferrari in the first half of the 2022 season due to a recurring rebound issue with the W13 car.
But he has seen an improvement in form recently, finishing on the podium in each of the last six races, while placing Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton in the top three in France and Hungary.
In Hungary, Russell took his first F1 pole position and led the first part of the race, before eventually finishing third behind Red Bull race winner Max Verstappen and runner-up Hamilton.
Asked by Autosport if the recent improvement in form was enough to justify sticking with the existing car concept for the rest of the year, Russell said he doubted any change would have a huge impact.
MORE: How Russell proved he deserved to be Hamilton’s Mercedes heir
“I don’t think changing the car concept will make us go any faster, maybe on the contrary to be honest,” Russell said after the race in Hungary.
“Sometimes you just have to stick with the process and keep pushing.
“And that’s hard to do when you’re off the pace and things don’t seem to be going your way. But personally, I believe in every single person on our team, and I think we’re doing great huge progress so far.
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG, talks to a colleague in the team garage
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
“We have seen with the work we have done [in qualifying]you saw with the beat that we both showed [in the race].
“At the start of the season, we finished the races a minute behind the first position. The last two races we were under 10 seconds, so I think it’s definitely going in the right direction.
While many teams opted to switch car concepts and follow the approach of Red Bull or Ferrari, Mercedes stuck to their slim, pontoon design that turned heads in pre-season testing.
The team has previously said it doubts dropping the concept will change its level of competitiveness this year, although it is considering “combinations of different concepts” for next year.
Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff felt the team’s training difficulties in France and Hungary had helped it find the right direction with the car, allowing it to be more competitive.
“It was a difficult weekend overall, because the suffering on Friday [in Hungary] was just big when we didn’t really know which way to look,” Wolff said.
“Maybe getting it wrong on Friday was helpful in doing it very well, almost completely, on Sunday.
“We have a lot of data to look at, a lot of positives from last weekend in France and here [in Hungary] and build for the second half of the season.
Additional reporting by Matt Kew
Mercedes struggled to compete with leaders Red Bull and Ferrari in the first half of the 2022 season due to a recurring rebound issue with the W13 car.
But he has seen an improvement in form recently, finishing on the podium in each of the last six races, while placing Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton in the top three in France and Hungary.
In Hungary, Russell took his first F1 pole position and led the first part of the race, before eventually finishing third behind Red Bull race winner Max Verstappen and runner-up Hamilton.
Asked by Autosport if the recent improvement in form was enough to justify sticking with the existing car concept for the rest of the year, Russell said he doubted any change would have a huge impact.
MORE: How Russell proved he deserved to be Hamilton’s Mercedes heir
“I don’t think changing the car concept will make us go any faster, maybe on the contrary to be honest,” Russell said after the race in Hungary.
“Sometimes you just have to stick with the process and keep pushing.
“And that’s hard to do when you’re off the pace and things don’t seem to be going your way. But personally, I believe in every single person on our team, and I think we’re doing great huge progress so far.
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG, talks to a colleague in the team garage
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
“We have seen with the work we have done [in qualifying]you saw with the beat that we both showed [in the race].
“At the start of the season, we finished the races a minute behind the first position. The last two races we were under 10 seconds, so I think it’s definitely going in the right direction.
While many teams opted to switch car concepts and follow the approach of Red Bull or Ferrari, Mercedes stuck to their slim, pontoon design that turned heads in pre-season testing.
The team has previously said it doubts dropping the concept will change its level of competitiveness this year, although it is considering “combinations of different concepts” for next year.
Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff felt the team’s training difficulties in France and Hungary had helped it find the right direction with the car, allowing it to be more competitive.
“It was a difficult weekend overall, because the suffering on Friday [in Hungary] was just big when we didn’t really know which way to look,” Wolff said.
“Maybe getting it wrong on Friday was helpful in doing it very well, almost completely, on Sunday.
“We have a lot of data to look at, a lot of positives from last weekend in France and here [in Hungary] and build for the second half of the season.
Additional reporting by Matt Kew
