George Russell has revealed Mercedes are holding a “big meeting” this week in an try to grasp the workforce’s lack of kind throughout the previous couple of rounds of the 2025 Components 1 season.
The Brit started the 12 months strongly, claiming 4 podiums as he completed within the prime 5 at every of the primary six races of the season.
The spotlight of Mercedes’ marketing campaign got here as Russell gained and team-mate Kimi Antonelli completed on the rostrum in Canada in June, however the three races since have been “underwhelming”.
Russell was fifth on the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, however completed half a minute again from the dominant McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, and – maybe extra concerningly – nearly 15 seconds behind the battle for third between Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Crimson Bull’s Max Verstappen.
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Watch the race highlights from the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps
Russell advised Sky Sports activities F1: “It was fairly underwhelming, to be trustworthy.
“As a result of we are inclined to favour the cooler situations. So we could not have actually requested for higher climate for us. However we have simply had no tempo lately. We have to sit down, all of us.
“We’re going to have a big meeting this week with all the designers and engineers. To sort of understand the decisions we’ve made in recent weeks or months. And why we’ve gone backwards. So hoping for some improvements in Hungary.”
Mercedes have launched a sequence of upgrades to the W16 during the last couple of months, however Russell admits the workforce have didn’t extract efficiency from the brand new elements.
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George Russell takes an enormous spin on the British Grand Prix, with the Mercedes driver struggling for grip at Silverstone
He added: “P5 was probably flattering the real pace of the car, so I’m at least happy we got the maximum possible.
“We made a transparent change of course a few months in the past, and I feel it has been since that time we have taken a step backwards.
“It sometimes takes a few races to understand what the real reasons are for that lack of pace, but clearly it seems that we need to revert back to what we had earlier in the season.”
Does front-wing rule change clarify Mercedes’ struggles?
Mercedes head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin admitted after the race in Spa that the workforce have struggled to steadiness their automobile for the reason that introduction of a technical directive (TD) on the Spanish Grand Prix which restricted the permitted quantity of front-wing flexing.
He stated: “What we had earlier in the year was a car that was working well at pretty much every circuit.
“We have been typically combating for the second row of the grid, if not the entrance row. It is most likely true for anybody that the TD will not enhance stability, however we did have this wing on the automobile in Montreal and it was effective.
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Sky Sports activities’ Bernie Collins explains the influence entrance wing flexibility can have on a automobile
“The fact is that other people are able to balance their cars a bit better. There’s no doubt a solution in there for us. We’re just looking at all the steps that we’ve taken with the car design over the last number of races.
“It is not simply the entrance wing that is modified, and I am positive there’s extra that we are able to be taught. That is what the main target is on over the subsequent few races, making an attempt to pinpoint why we’re getting this entry stability concern.”
Mercedes have little time to reverse their fortunes ahead of the second leg of a back-to-back in Hungary this weekend before the summer break.
Confirming the “huge assembly” talked about by Russell would happen on Monday, Shovlin expressed confidence that optimistic modifications might be made for the Hungaroring.
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Highlights of the Canadian Grand Prix from the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as George Russell gained in Montreal
He added: “It’s definitely possible for us to look at changing aspects of the car for Budapest.
“How deep we go will rely upon what elements we have got round us.
“There’s quite a lot that we’ve changed, so we’ve got a meeting with the drivers tomorrow to go through some of what we’ve done over the year to try to make sure that our efforts are focused on the right things and not just changing things for the sake of it.”
F1 instantly heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix for the ultimate race earlier than the game’s summer season break, watch stay on Sky Sports activities F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
