Mercedes have had quite a disappointing season so far, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell struggling to come up with the results that the team was once accustomed to. The Silver Arrows have failed to win a single race since last year’s Brazilian GP. To point out where the team has gone wrong, as per a report by F1Maximaal, George Russell has drawn comparisons between Red Bull and Mercedes.
Red Bull have been dominating the grid lately, having won all the races this season. The Milton-Keynes-based outfit have been performing in a different class, much above their competition. It is they who brought an end to the Mercedes domination era when Max Verstappen successfully managed to edge past Lewis Hamilton in the championship battle in 2021.
15 consecutive top-two finishes in #F1 🤯
🟥 Michael Schumacher: Brazil-Japan 2002
1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1
🟦 Max Verstappen: Abu Dhabi 2022 – Italy 2023 (ongoing)
1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 pic.twitter.com/3iMriFssJg
— Autosport (@autosport) September 7, 2023
As for Mercedes, they have been struggling in the midfield and are no match for the Red Bulls. George Russell believes this is due to the various wrong decisions that the Silver Arrows took during the winter break leading up to the 2023 season.
George Russell opens up about the flaws in the Mercedes W14
As per a recent report by F1Maximaal, Russell spoke to Autoweek and explained, “We certainly made some wrong decisions over the winter last year which put us quite a bit behind and that’s why we’ve had this season so far catching up.”
Russell explained that he and Hamilton have been trying to find more stability at the rear of the car. Apart from that, they are also looking for a bit more cornering balance from the Mercedes W14.
George’s Mercedes story so far! 📖😍 pic.twitter.com/mfEzgMdm0O
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 7, 2023
Russell then went on to compare their situation with that of Red Bull and said, “They give their drivers the opportunity to give everything without too much fear of damaging the car.” He further explained that the main aim right now is to find marginal gains, which adds up to a major difference over a whole lap.
Mercedes are a long way behind Red Bull
As of now, Mercedes are 2nd in the constructors’ championship, but they are way behind Red Bull with a 310-point deficit between the two. Even though the team has shown impressive improvements as compared to the start of the season, there is a long way to go before they can start thinking about catching up with the Red Bulls.
Their main goal at the moment would be to stop Red Bull from going unbeaten the whole season. Therefore, Mercedes would be desperate to register their first win of the season.
