George Russell has dismissed that recent crashes have put Mercedes in danger of exceeding Formula 1‘s budget cap amount amid team boss Toto Wolff’s concerns.
The Briton’s incident marked the second time in less than a week he had done damage to his car as he also endured a hit with the wall at the United States Grand Prix.
But while the crash in Austin cost him the side’s latest upgrades, Russell has denied his latest mishap could serve to have greater financial implications for Mercedes.
Russell, though, has expressed that he would be prepared to continue running the previous spec parts to allow Mercedes to shift resources towards next season’s car.
Asked whether there were concerns regarding the budget cap, Russell told media including Motorsport Week in Mexico: “No concerns [on the] budget cap.
“Because we’ve got a bit of margin and you’re always weighing up what you put into this season versus what you put into next season.
“Now, potentially, we may have to compromise the rest of this season, which, to be honest, I’d probably be in favour for, because we’re not fighting for a championship.
“I’d be more than happy staying on the old floor if that gives us a better chance into next year.
“But, you know, I think we’ll be able to repair the floor from Austin. I think that’s the plan. It wasn’t as bad as we initially expected, and that should be out in Brazil.”
Russell explains Mercedes spins
Lewis Hamilton replicating Russell’s spin at the same corner at the Circuit of the Americas in the race led him to ponder whether Mercedes’ updates were responsible.
However, Russell enduring a collision as a result of his car becoming unsettled over a kerb this weekend has prompted him to suggest it has a more inherent problem.
“Well, we know exactly what happened,” he added. “I mean, you look at the Red Bulls, they just run over that kerb like no problem.
“The last two years, I’ve been using that kerb every lap. In FP1, I did four laps using the kerb and there was no problem.
“And then suddenly, well, you saw the replay, I hit it and it was like I was a kangaroo. And, you know, that was really disappointing.
“The last two weeks, I’ve put so much pressure on the team now with [the] lack of spares.
“And it’s been pretty unnecessary, but we don’t really know why it’s happening. It’s not through sort of over-driving, it’s just the car bites.”
Mercedes struggling with pace fluctuation
Russell recovered well as he out-qualified team-mate Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes, unable to match its nearest competitors over a single lap, locked out the third row.
But having shown promise earlier in the weekend to lead the FP1 times, Russell is adamant the German marque must understand its inconsistent fluctuations in pace.
“Yeah, FP1, we’re still trying to wrap our heads around why that was so good,” he highlighted.
“Today was a really, really good day, to attempt from P3 on a floor that we raced in Miami 14 races ago now. I don’t think we could have done much more.”
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