George Russell has stated that innovative moves from Formula 1 teams, such as McLaren, can prove to be a “distraction,” amid Mercedes’ struggles during the ground effect era.
Russell is in his fourth season with the German marque, joining when ground effect was reintroduced in 2022, which has been a less successful period for the team.
Mercedes was the dominant force of the V6 hybrid era since the beginning in 2014, winning every single Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship up until 2021.
In the time since, the Brackley-based squad has failed to mount a significant title challenge, totalling just six Grand Prix wins.
Red Bull became the dominant force throughout ground effect, but has been knocked off its perch by McLaren, which can wrap up the Constructors’ title in Baku this weekend.
This has proved to be a huge shock for some, including Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who recently stated that McLaren had “proved all of us wrong” in terms of how it overhauled the status quo.
Speaking ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix last month, Russell stated that teams are perhaps too focussed on what others have done, rather than focussing on what it can do to improve.
“I think naturally every single year, teams evolve and you learn what the strengths were, what the weaknesses were,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “I think everybody’s been quite surprised at McLaren’s race pace, especially in the hot conditions.
“So, suddenly people are jumping on that bandwagon to try and understand what that is. The same way as when, let’s say, Mercedes had the DAS [double axis] system.
“It’s like, ‘alright, do we need to look into this?’ When people innovate and do amazing things, it inspires others to try and raise their game. But it also sometimes can be a distraction.”
Russell praises the overall ‘great work’ of McLaren
One of McLaren’s key strengths across the last two seasons has been its ability to keep tyre temperatures under control, which has been a significant benefit.
And whilst Russell cited its dominance and Mercedes’ previous innovations, he said that a combination of “great work” from McLaren has proved to be the difference, hinting that his team have got things wrong.
“I don’t ever believe in one silver bullet,” he continued. “I think it’s just a combination of great work that they’ve done.
“But I think we’ve learned a lot in how to deal with, let’s say, being on the back foot.
“If we had our time again these three years, we probably would have made very different decisions and maybe not rushed certain decisions trying to find that silver bullet.”
READ MORE – The Mercedes F1 rivalry that left Toto Wolff full of ‘regret’
Discussion about this post