George Russell has explained how Mercedes’ recent upgrade package in Canada created a “snowball effect” that has inspired its return to winning races in Formula 1.
Mercedes opened the campaign appearing resigned to another tumultuous term as its revamped W15 car proved to be as unpredictable as its troubled predecessors.
However, an aggressive development plan has instigated a turnaround that has propelled Mercedes back to the sharp end with successive wins in Austria and Britain.
But while Mercedes locked out the front row and succeeded on merit at Silverstone, Russell has cautioned the German marque remains behind Red Bull and McLaren.
“I mean, it’s really exciting for all of us,” Russell said.
“If you told us at the start of the year we’d be going into Hungary fighting for three wins in a row, we wouldn’t have believed it.
“And, you know, we’ve led the last four races since the upgrades, which is an incredible turnaround for us. Everybody’s super motivated.
“There’s no guarantees going into the next two race weekends.
“I think from these last four, we’ve had, without a doubt, the quickest car in qualifying in two of them, and the quickest car in the race in two of them.
“But still, in Austria and Barcelona, we were a good 10 to 20 seconds behind Max [Verstappen] and Lando [Norris], so we need to see where we fall out this weekend.
“But, yeah, we’re super excited for what’s to come.”
Russell has conceded that Mercedes’ revival has come too late to have a tangible impact on the championship, with the squad a sizeable 152 points behind Red Bull.
However, the Briton is optimistic that positive outings on contrasting track configurations in the next two races will cement Mercedes’ status as a front-running threat.
“This championship already, Max is a long way out in front, and Lando’s in a pretty solid P2,” he acknowledged.
“But I think the goal for us for the rest of the year is just to try and win as many more races as possible.
“Of course, we’ve closed this gap massively. We’ve had two really great races in the last four.
“But still, when you look at it, Max has still won two of those races, finished second in another, should have finished second in Austria.
“It’s not been a bad run of form for those guys either, so we’re no doubt closer than ever.
“We just need to see this race weekend, and in Spa, I think if we have two good race weekends here, we’ll be fast everywhere.”
Mercedes’ recent progress has been attributed to a tweaked front wing design introduced in Monaco which has helped the team strike the sweet spot on car balance.
Russell, though, has revealed that subsequent updates in Canada – where he claimed pole position – over-delivered on expectations based on wind tunnel simulations.
The ex-Williams racer has detailed how the various developments have combined to make the W15 an easier car to drive, amplifying the anticipated lap time increase.
“I think we brought a reasonable-sized upgrade to Montreal, but nowhere near the size that it translated to in terms of lap time,” he assessed.
“And I think the way the car is handling now, we both have much more confidence in the car, we can push it closer to its limit.
“Now the tyres are feeling better when we drive in the race, we can manage the tyres easier on it. It just has a bit of a snowball effect in terms of its performance.
“So this small upgrade has turned into something quite large in terms of lap time, because we can exploit the car more and that’s the biggest thing, having that confidence beneath us.”
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