After winning eight consecutive titles from 2014 to 2021, Mercedes massively dropped the ball when the ground-effect regulations were introduced in 2022. While the team have tirelessly been working to find their way back to the front of the grid ever since, it is only this year when they seemed to have made substantial progress.
While the Silver Arrows may still not be anywhere near the pace of the McLarens, they do seem to have the second fastest car on the grid. George Russell is leading Mercedes’ charge this season and has had his best start to a campaign, with four podiums after the first six races.
Moreover, he is the only driver this season to have finished in the top five in every competitive session (sprint qualifying, sprint race, qualifying, and the Grand Prix). It is this consistency that has helped him move up to P4 in the Drivers’ Standings.
What is further likely to help the Briton is that there are reports that Mercedes are planning on bringing a major upgrade to Imola. With Russell showing the form that he is, fans have begun to dream that he could potentially fight for the championship if Mercedes’ upgrades help them close the gap to McLaren.
George Russell is still the only driver this season who has a top 5 result in every competitive session
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One fan took to Reddit to say, “One major update by merc and boom, he’s a serious WDC contender.” Fans, who feel Russell deserves to fight for the title after these strong results, also pointed out how McLaren could be hit by the FIA’s technical directive from the Spanish GP onwards.
McLaren have been scrutinized by their rivals for the amount of flex on their front wing. In cornering situations, the front wing on the MCL39 provides adequate downforce but flexes back on the straights, reducing drag and improving straight line speed dramatically.
The FIA has now issued TD018 that will limit the amount of allowed front wing flex from the Spanish GP onwards. Many expect McLaren to lose a considerable chunk of their performance, owing to this.
One fan hence speculated, “People are saying that the Spain TD will hurt them [McLaren] too. Let’s see what happens because merc taking the fight to mclaren would be nice. He (Russell) def deserves to be in contention.”
Having said that, McLaren are also due to bring an upgrade package of their own soon. It will be interesting to see how much performance Mercedes can claw back with their upgrade package and if the Woking-based team can nullify that with their own revised MCL39.
One thing is for sure, though, that if Russell is given the chance to fight for the title, the Kings-Lynn man would not back down and attack the duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with all his might.
