I'll step back
Suzuka Saturday was not a pleasant one for George Russell. The Englishman from Mercedes – protagonist at the start of the session unsafe release for which the Brackley team was then fined – he was in fact unable to go beyond ninth position on the starting gridbeing beaten for the first time in 2024 on the flying lap by teammate Lewis Hamilton in seventh.
Commenting on the session Russell did not hide, expressing his disappointment and acknowledging that he had made a driving mistake which decisively affected his placement, also thanks to the very close values between the top teams: “We, McLaren, Ferrari and Aston Martin knew we were very close. After FP3 we imagined that there would only be a tenth or two between all these cars and so it was. If you didn't have a great lap you ended up in ninth position and that's what happened to me today. I made a mistake on my last lap; It's a little disappointing, but that's how it goes sometimes. However, it is not the most difficult race to overcome – Russell consoled himself – and with the degradation of the tires and the different strategies we hope to be able to make a step forward tomorrow. There's still a lot that can happen.”.
Difficult start to 2024 for Mercedes
Continuing his reflection, the Mercedes representative also tried to analyze the particular moment his team is facing: “We started this season with several high-speed circuits – explained Russell – And We know this is our sweet spot with this car. We predicted that this weekend wouldn't be the best. It's good that we're exposing these pain points, because it allows us to understand the platform we're building on and adding performance to. It gives us a clear direction to improve“, he concluded.
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