George Russell believes Mercedes could have secured a second-row finish in qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix if they hadn’t experimented with their car setups, but emphasizes the team’s focus on long-term gains and fighting for victories, despite recent struggles and a competitive field.
Highlights
‣ George Russell believes Mercedes could have secured a second-row finish in qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix if they hadn’t experimented with their car setups, despite the team’s recent struggles and Lewis Hamilton‘s 18th place qualifying result due to setup experiments.
‣ Mercedes, despite finishing second in the Constructors Championship in 2023 without winning a race, has faced challenges in the 2024 season, falling behind Ferrari, McLaren, and facing competition from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
‣ Russell explains that Mercedes’ strategy of experimenting with car setups is aimed at long-term improvements, sacrificing short-term results in hopes of fighting for victories and championships in the future.
‣ Mercedes plans to introduce upgrades at the Miami Grand Prix, with limited practice time to test these changes, indicating a continued effort to find a successful development path and improve performance.
George Russell’s got this belief, right? He thinks Mercedes could’ve snagged a spot on the second row during qualifying. That is, if they hadn’t gone all mad scientist with their cars. Over at Toto Wolff’s camp, the Chinese Grand Prix weekend was a bit of a rollercoaster. Lewis Hamilton? He clinched second in the sprint. But then—bam!—he landed in 18th for the Grand Prix. Hamilton pointed fingers at a mistake he made but didn’t shy away from blaming the experimental set-up, too.
Mercedes, bless their hearts, haven’t been hitting their usual high notes lately. Sure, they bagged second in the Constructors Championship in 2023. Winning races, though? Not in their recent track record. Fast forward to 2024, five races in, and they’re trailing behind Ferrari and McLaren. And don’t get me started on Fernando Alonso with Aston Martin. The guy’s ahead of Hamilton in the World Championship, for crying out loud.
But Russell? He’s not throwing in the towel just yet. He reckons Mercedes could turn things around if they stopped tinkering so much. At 26, he’s pretty vocal about the team’s dissatisfaction with their current performance. Their strategy? Experiment now, reap the benefits later.
### Why Mercedes drastically experiment
Russell laid it out pretty clear. “Imagine we nailed everything this weekend. Maybe we’d land in P3, P4, or even P5 in qualifying. But would we be happy? Nope. We’re eyeing victories, championships even—hopefully by next year. Sacrifices now could mean gains later,” he said. They’re on a quest, trying to carve out the right development path for some major leaps forward. And it’s tough, no doubt about it.
“If we just get a bit lucky in qualifying, dodge that crazy group of cars, we could hit the podium. Look at Bahrain. Hamilton nailed it in the sprint. Had that been the main race, he’d likely have bagged P3. But here’s the thing—it’s tough for everyone. Ferrari, Aston, you name it. No one’s thrilled with where they’re at. Everyone’s gunning for victories, but Red Bull’s the only team making us all look bad,” Russell continued.
Next up? The Miami Grand Prix. Mercedes is rolling out some upgrades, hoping for a game-changer. They’ve got a mere 60 minutes of practice to test the waters before deciding on a set-up for the sprint race. Hamilton and Russell, they’ve got a shot at tweaking things between the 100km dash and Sunday’s Grand Prix qualifying. Fingers crossed, eh?
