George Russell believes Mercedes wasn’t as competitive in Formula 1‘s Las Vegas Grand Prix compared to 2024 as the team has a “more consistent” car this season.
Mercedes went into last weekend’s event tipped as the side to beat based on the dominance that saw Russell lead a 1-2 at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit 12 months ago.
The German marque was unable to replicate that showing, however, as Russell crossed the line in third, a distant 23 seconds behind eventual winner Max Verstappen.
Having capitalised on pole-sitter Lando Norris going wide at Turn 1 at the start to move up to second, Russell was pressurising Verstappen during the opening stages.
But an issue with his steering and graining on both the Medium and Hard compounds allowed Norris to reclaim the position on his compatriot with 16 laps remaining.
However, the Briton, who was promoted back to second post-race as the McLaren drivers were excluded, has insisted that he harbours no regrets about his approach.
Asked whether he could have beaten Norris on track had he not pushed to pass Verstappen, Russell told media including Motorsport Week: “I don’t know, to be honest.
“You can always have that debate. But honestly, if I was sat in Lando’s position now, it doesn’t change anything for me.
“I want to fight for victories. I saw that half an opportunity. I thought Max was going to struggle a bit more on his out lap, and I had to go for it.
“And if I nursed my tyres in those laps, I’d be sitting here still in P3, maybe wondering if only I could have attacked when I had the opportunity. So no regrets. It just wasn’t an enjoyable race.”
Mercedes has traded ‘highlight moments’ to be more consistent
Russell suspects that Mercedes’ expected advantage didn’t transpire in Las Vegas due, in part, to the W16 being a more rounded car than its recalcitrant predecessor.
“I think we have a car this year that’s just more consistent over 24 races,” he explained.
“I think our car last year was either exceptionally strong or exceptionally weak. And that’s really why we had more highlight moments last year as a team.
“But over 24 races, we scored substantially less points. So, of course, you want to win races, but the goal ultimately is to score as many points as possible in a season.
“And we have a car this year that has given us a substantially better opportunity to achieve that than we had 12 months ago.”
READ MORE – Mercedes to investigate problem that thwarted George Russell’s F1 Las Vegas GP victory bid
Discussion about this post