Ahead of F1’s second sprint event of the year in Miami, Mercedes has a better understanding of what it did wrong in Shanghai two weeks ago.
There, thanks to new parc ferme rules that opened up after Saturday’s race, he opted to make massive changes to the settings of Russell and Lewis Hamilton’s cars ahead of qualifying for the grand prix.
These changes did not bring any progress in pace and actually meant that drivers were behind in qualifying as they had to immediately adapt to a new direction for their W15.
Russell said that for Miami, Mercedes would change its approach to setup changes and try harder to stick with what it has for the duration, even if it’s not perfect.
“What we learned is that if you take the car backwards and go straight into a qualifying session, where every lap in Q1 or Q2 is vitally important to how it prepares you for Q3 and the tires you have left, it’s very difficult to adapt in such a short time,” he said of the mindset for the Miami sprint .
“So it’s probably better to be the devil you know than to try to find that sweet spot.”
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Russell thinks it’s far better to try to work around known shortcomings rather than throwing everything into a whole new approach that brings a lot of uncertainty.
“If you were to stick with a suboptimal configuration, it’s a suboptimal configuration that you know and can adapt to over time,” he said.
“Of course we try to strive for perfection, sometimes trying to reach for the stars, and doing it in such a short time can throw you off course.
“I’m sure we won’t make the same mistake this weekend. There is an incredibly exciting field between the four teams after Red Bull.
“And if you find that sweet spot, you can find yourself gaining five, six or seven positions on a Saturday afternoon. So yes, we need to make sure we’re in the right place to deliver.
Mercedes is bringing some minor updates to the Miami weekend in a bid to try and unlock the potential it feels it has in its W15.
And after showing boldness in a few experiments at recent Grands Prix, Russell believes the time is right to choose a direction now and make the most of it.
“We learned a lot from the last two races,” he added. “I think we’re in a much better position now that we’ve done a set of extreme options between races.
“We know where the car works best. I think now we just need to refine that and build on a better foundation. »
