Motorsport Week
  • Formula 1
    • 2025 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2025 Formula 1 Standings
  • Formula E
    • 2025 Formula E Calendar
    • 2025 Formula E Standings
  • IndyCar
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2025 WRC Standings
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
  • MotoGP
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
  • WEC
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • IMSA
    • 2025 IMSA Calendar
  • World SBK
  • More
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
  • Formula 1
    • 2025 Formula 1 Calendar
    • 2025 Formula 1 Standings
  • Formula E
    • 2025 Formula E Calendar
    • 2025 Formula E Standings
  • IndyCar
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WRC
    • 2025 WRC Standings
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
  • MotoGP
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
  • WEC
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • IMSA
    • 2025 IMSA Calendar
  • World SBK
  • More
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
    • Technical Insight
    • Galleries
    • About/Contact
    • Privacy Policy
No Result
View All Result
Motorsport Week
Home Single Seater Formula 1

Russell: Mercedes found more gains after Jeddah than whole of winter break

by Taylor Powling
2 years ago
A A
0
Russell: Mercedes found more gains after Jeddah than whole of winter break

George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14. 01.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Qualifying Day.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

George Russell claims Mercedes made more gains with its troubled W14 car between the grands prix in Saudi Arabia and Australia than it did throughout the winter break.

Following a hugely underwhelming 2022 campaign that yielded only a solitary win – courtesy of Russell leading a 1-2 in Brazil – Mercedes had been aiming to immediately rebound back into title contention this year.

However, a dismal opening weekend in Bahrain provided a rude awakening and forced team boss Toto Wolff to admit it needs to abandon its current car concept.

But after a slightly improved showing in Jeddah, Russell stated ahead of the Australian Grand Prix that the German teams made significant progress since it accepted its design philosophy was flawed.

RelatedPosts

The Race Makers were on hand to assist a record crowd at the 2025 F1 British GP

The Race Makers: The stars behind the scenes at Silverstone

9 hours ago
Christian Horner was emotional as he expressed Red Bull staff

Christian Horner’s parting speech to Red Bull F1 staff revealed

12 hours ago

“Yeah, I mean, we’re working really hard at the moment with these changes,” he said. “I won’t give too much away. And we need to make sure they work as expected.

“But as we’ve said a number of times, we’re probably finding more gains in the past two or three weeks than we found over the whole winter by clearly developing in the wrong window.

“So yeah, it’s definitely heading in the right direction.”

Qualifying top three in parc ferme George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1, second; Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing, pole position; Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1, third. 01.04.2023. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 3, Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Qualifying Day.

Mercedes has a considerable upgrade package that it plans to introduce for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in May.

Russell, however, has underlined that expectations surrounding the potential of the updates should be managed to avoid a repeat of the scenario that emerged after pre-season testing.

“I think it’s a case of managing expectations, and just focusing on yourself and that development,” the British driver stated.

“We all believed over the winter what we were doing was correct because it was an evolution of what we did throughout last year.

“And we all saw the improvements we made as a team throughout last year to win a race at the end of the year and be fighting at the front.

“Yeah, it caught us by surprise to see the lack of performance when we hit the track in Bahrain and that’s why we were quick to change our approach.

“I think already on the Saturday night of the Bahrain Grand Prix, we were trying different things, going in a different direction with the development because we recognised we’d maybe gone too far.

He added: “So I’m not going to sit here and say we’re incredibly optimistic.”

“All I will say is we are making improvements and that should translate into lap time.

“But we recognise that Red Bull are over a second down the road at the moment.”

Mercedes’ unpredictable 2023 car fared better on the smoother surface of the Albert Park Circuit last weekend to provide Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton with the machinery to qualify second and third respectively.

Strong starts for the British duo saw them occupy the top two positions during the early stages of the race until the dominant speed of the Red Bull proved too much for the W14 to resist.

Although Russell subsequently retired with an engine failure, Hamilton trailed Max Verstappen home in second to encouragingly deliver Mercedes’ first podium of the year.

While both Hamilton and Russell have acknowledged the deficit to Red Bull remains ominously large in race trim, Mercedes’ positive Australia outing has provided renewed confidence that it will erode the gap as the season progresses.

The German manufacturer currently sits third in the Constructors’ Championship, only nine points behind the resurgent Aston Martin outfit.

However, Mercedes is a comfortable 30 points clear of Ferrari after a nightmare weekend for the Italian side that ended pointless.

Tags: F1George RussellMercedes
Share200Tweet125Share

Related Posts

The Race Makers were on hand to assist a record crowd at the 2025 F1 British GP
Feature

The Race Makers: The stars behind the scenes at Silverstone

9 hours ago
Christian Horner was emotional as he expressed Red Bull staff
Formula 1

Christian Horner’s parting speech to Red Bull F1 staff revealed

12 hours ago
Paddock atmosphere - Red Bull Racing logo at sunset. 21.03.2025. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 2, Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai, China, Sprint Qualifying Day
Formula 1

Red Bull sees further dismissals from F1 team amid Christian Horner exit

12 hours ago
Load More

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Upcoming Races

#EventDate
13Belgian GP25-27 July
14Hungarian GP01-03 August
15Dutch GP29-31 August
16Italian GP05-07 September
17Azerbaijan GP19-21 September

Click here for the full 2025 F1 calendar

Drivers’  Standings

#DriverPts
Oscar Piastri234
Lando Norris226
Max Verstappen165
George Russell147
Charles Leclerc120
Lewis Hamilton103
Andrea Kimi Antonelli63
Alexander Albon44
Nico Hulkenberg37
Isack Hadjar28

Click here for full Drivers’ Standings

Latest Articles

The Race Makers were on hand to assist a record crowd at the 2025 F1 British GP
Feature

The Race Makers: The stars behind the scenes at Silverstone

July 9, 2025
Christian Horner was emotional as he expressed Red Bull staff
Formula 1

Christian Horner’s parting speech to Red Bull F1 staff revealed

July 9, 2025
Paddock atmosphere - Red Bull Racing logo at sunset. 21.03.2025. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 2, Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai, China, Sprint Qualifying Day
Formula 1

Red Bull sees further dismissals from F1 team amid Christian Horner exit

July 9, 2025

Follow Motorsport Week

Join our daily motorsport newsletter

* indicates required

Motorsport Week

© 2024 Motorsport Media Services Ltd

Other Links

  • About & Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Motorsport Monday

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Home
  • Formula 1
    • Latest News
    • 2025 F1 Calendar
    • 2025 F1 Championship Standings
  • Formula E
    • Latest News
    • 2025 FE Calendar
    • 2025 FE Championship Standings
  • MotoGP
    • Latest News
    • 2025 MotoGP Calendar
    • 2025 MotoGP Standings
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
  • WRC
    • Latest News
    • 2025 WRC Calendar
    • 2025 WRC Standings
  • IndyCar
    • Latest News
    • 2025 IndyCar Calendar
    • 2025 IndyCar Standings
  • WEC
    • Latest News
    • 2025 WEC Calendar
  • Live Updates
  • Other
    • IMSA
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • F1 Academy
    • Moto2
    • Moto3
    • World Superbikes
  • Galleries
  • About/Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© 2024 Motorsport Media Services Ltd