Mercedes out of performance window at Mexico GP
George Russell is enduring further difficulties with the upgraded Mercedes Formula 1 car, as it was outside the optimum set-up in Friday practice at the Mexico Grand Prix.
The championship-leading squad introduced an updated W17 for Malaysia this month, but it was easily beaten by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen before a similar story in Singapore.
Kimi Antonelli ended Verstappen’s run by winning from pole in Austin, but his Mercedes team-mate Russell has been struggling with a DNF, P9 and P8 across the last three rounds.
Russell put this down to the upgrades having a narrow operating window, which he thinks was seen again in Mexico despite finishing third in FP2 and only a tenth behind Ferrari pacesetter Charles Lelcerc.
“I think still not fully on top of the new package,” claimed Russell, whose car was driven by Frederik Vesti in opening practice.
“We see there’s some balance limitations we have that we’re struggling to overcome.
“I would say currently for Kimi and I, we’re probably more outside the window, similar to what we saw in Malaysia, than inside the window like Kimi achieved in Austin.
“But hopefully overnight we can get it back there.”
Leclerc topped both Friday sessions, which came as little surprise to Russell, who labelled Ferrari as the pre-weekend favourite due to its lack of turbo lag in the high altitude conditions.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
This is crucial for success in Mexico as the turbo works harder at circuits like Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and the SF-26 is known to have a smaller one than its rivals.
That is not the only aspect holding Mercedes back though, as when pressed on where the car needs to improve, Russell replied: “The balance.
“The through-corner balance isn’t where we want it and the car isn’t quite as together as we’d like it, so yeah it’s going to require a bit of work.”
But it is not panic stations for Mercedes just yet, particularly as Leclerc also topped both Friday practice sessions at the United States Grand Prix – only for Antonelli to subsequently dominate.
“Solid day for us, I’d say – not spectacular, but solid,” said deputy team principal Bradley Lord.
“There’s a lot of challenges here with PU cooling, with brake cooling, with boost management with these turbos, now that we don’t have an MGU-H to help us out with that as we have done for the last few years.
“So this is a tricky place to get everything right, to be quick on a single lap, but then also be able to maintain your pace for the long run.
“So we’ve answered a few of those questions. We’ve got a bit more digging to do through the data to find exactly the best compromise for tomorrow and Sunday.”
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