The German manufacturer has had a bruised start to the 2024 season, having yet to finish on the podium and currently occupying fourth place in the constructors’ championship, just one point ahead of Aston Martin.
But while on paper the situation doesn’t look promising, Russell believes Mercedes’ plight has been exacerbated by tiny elements – and that a relatively minor increase in pace would change it dramatically.
“I think small things make a big difference to the overall result,” Russell said ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.
“I think another tenth or two in qualifying and you’re four places higher on the grid. We wouldn’t [in Japan] We then made the bold choice to start with the hard stuff, which, with the information we had at the time, was absolutely the right decision. The race would have gone very, very differently.
“We are currently in a battle for thin margins. We’ve been on the wrong side over the last few race weekends, on two circuits that I think don’t really suit the characteristics of this car.
While the Mercedes W15 struggles against the opposition in high-speed corners, its weakness has been exposed recently at circuits like Jeddah, Australia and Suzuka.
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
That’s why Russell sees this weekend’s Chinese GP as perhaps a better indicator of Mercedes’ potential, with a profile geared more towards mid- and low-speed corners.
“I think it will be a very good test this weekend to see where we are compared to McLaren as well,” he explained.
“They seem to be exceptionally strong in high-speed corners and a little weak in low-speed corners. There is a lot more potential to show. I don’t think we optimized the car and its settings in the last two races. This is what we focus on.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton said Mercedes would not be making any upgrades in Shanghai this weekend, but was taking back some important set-up lessons learned in Japan.
“Nothing has changed with our car, so it will be the same car this weekend,” he said. “But we understand it a little more.
“Looking at last weekend, we made improvements. So if we could have gone back, we would have done things differently, and that’s the benefit of hindsight and experience.
“We’re going to try to bring that here this weekend and see if we can implement some of those changes that we might have done further back at Suzuka. Hopefully that can bring us a bit of performance.
The German manufacturer has had a bruised start to the 2024 season, having yet to finish on the podium and currently occupying fourth place in the constructors’ championship, just one point ahead of Aston Martin.
But while on paper the situation doesn’t look promising, Russell believes Mercedes’ plight has been exacerbated by tiny elements – and that a relatively minor increase in pace would change it dramatically.
“I think small things make a big difference to the overall result,” Russell said ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.
“I think another tenth or two in qualifying and you’re four places higher on the grid. We wouldn’t [in Japan] We then made the bold choice to start with the hard stuff, which, with the information we had at the time, was absolutely the right decision. The race would have gone very, very differently.
“We are currently in a battle for thin margins. We’ve been on the wrong side over the last few race weekends, on two circuits that I think don’t really suit the characteristics of this car.
While the Mercedes W15 struggles against the opposition in high-speed corners, its weakness has been exposed recently at circuits like Jeddah, Australia and Suzuka.
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 team
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
That’s why Russell sees this weekend’s Chinese GP as perhaps a better indicator of Mercedes’ potential, with a profile geared more towards mid- and low-speed corners.
“I think it will be a very good test this weekend to see where we are compared to McLaren as well,” he explained.
“They seem to be exceptionally strong in high-speed corners and a little weak in low-speed corners. There is a lot more potential to show. I don’t think we optimized the car and its settings in the last two races. This is what we focus on.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton said Mercedes would not be making any upgrades in Shanghai this weekend, but was taking back some important set-up lessons learned in Japan.
“Nothing has changed with our car, so it will be the same car this weekend,” he said. “But we understand it a little more.
“Looking at last weekend, we made improvements. So if we could have gone back, we would have done things differently, and that’s the benefit of hindsight and experience.
“We’re going to try to bring that here this weekend and see if we can implement some of those changes that we might have done further back at Suzuka. Hopefully that can bring us a bit of performance.