In George Russell’s opinion, the Belgian Grand Prix Mercedes’s loss this weekend was more likely caused by the nature of the circuit than by the improvements Mercedes made.
Expecting to get closer to McLaren and Red Bull due to the high-speed track configuration and cooler weather, Mercedes went into the most recent race with high expectations.
The team decided not to run the updated floor that Mercedes had unveiled for this event because Mercedes performed poorly during the drier opening practice sessions.
With Lewis Hamilton finishing in fourth place, less than a tenth of a second behind second and taking pole position, the marque’s chances were improved by the rain that was expected.
The turnaround that will see his teammate lead the second row was down to going back to a previous-spec part, according to Russell, who qualified down in seventh position.
Russell said, “No, no, no, no,” when asked if he thought the cut development addressed Mercedes’ overnight step.
The performance of every team varies significantly from circuit to circuit, and we have struggled here for the past three years.
Instead of the upgrades, I believe it was crucial for us to go back to what we know and will witness in the race tomorrow if Spa proves to be a challenge for us, which I’m pretty sure it will be.
Thus, as you can see, there were not many significant upgrades.
It provides us time to go over all of the data from yesterday, and it’s just sort of a part of how the year unfolds.
“And then proceed accordingly, but I’m fairly certain those updates were functioning as anticipated.”
According to Russell, Mercedes’s level of competition at Spa-Francorchamps has decreased comparatively to other tracks during the ground effect era.
We have been exceptionally fast in Silverstone for the past three years. He admitted that “this season was very quick and difficult in Spa.”
In theory, you could argue that while the circuit isn’t quite the same as Silverstone, it does have some high- and low-speed sections.
We must make an effort to ascertain why that is. You know, there appears to be a built-in feature in cars that allows them to function at specific circuits.
Red Bull, for instance, is always lightning. Together with Austria, this is always likely their best circuit of the season.
Furthermore, Silverstone and Barcelona are the kinds of circuits where we typically perform exceptionally well. Thus, it is necessary for us to comprehend that.
Because Spa requires a setup configuration similar to Silverstone, where Mercedes won, the British driver is certain that the fundamental problem is not with the ride height Mercedes is running.
“In my opinion, it has nothing to do with ride height, as the range of ride heights experienced in Spa is quite comparable to that of Silverstone,” he stated.
“Well, I don’t believe it’s that,” Given how much bottoming you have through Eau Rouge, it’s evidently very difficult to get the car in the proper position.
As a result, your ride height is somewhat determined by Eau Rouge. Yes, we must evaluate the situation as it stands.
On a drier track, Russell has cautioned that Mercedes will regress in the race, but he is optimistic that the higher-than-expected degradation will present more opportunities.
Regarding Verstappen, who qualified fastest but has accepted a 10-place grid demotion, Russell said, “I’m pretty confident he’s going to improve very quickly.”
“Having said that, we saw the highest degree of sunshine on a Friday of the entire season yesterday. Furthermore, it appears that some individuals may require a three-stop shop.
However, you could slow down by one and a half seconds or two seconds by nursing those tires. Who knows, you might even be able to do a one-stop.
However, you could also become extremely slow if you do that.
Therefore, we’re definitely not in the best position in front of tomorrow. However, given how much deg there is, I do believe there are many opportunities.