George Russell has expressed bewilderment at the recent performance shifts in Formula 1, particularly after Ferrari and McLaren dominated the Italian Grand Prix, leaving Mercedes and Red Bull in the dust. Lando Norris secured a commanding victory at Zandvoort, and Charles Leclerc capitalized on strategy to outmaneuver the McLarens at Monza, with Carlos Sainz finishing just off the podium. In stark contrast, Lewis Hamilton, the highest-placed Mercedes driver, finished fifth, over 22 seconds behind Leclerc, while the Red Bulls struggled even more, trailing by over half a minute.
Russell, who ended the race in seventh after a difficult start, highlighted the unexpected nature of these recent developments, noting how quickly the balance of power has shifted. “I think it is very tight at the moment, especially in qualifying, but McLaren and Ferrari definitely seem to have the edge on us at the moment,” Russell remarked.
He continued, “It’s all a bit strange, like when you look at Red Bull’s performance, nobody would have predicted that five races ago. So either those guys have made big gains or I don’t know what’s going on, but we need to keep working hard and make some changes.”
Russell’s race was further hampered by an early incident with Oscar Piastri, which forced him into an early pit stop to replace a damaged front wing. Reflecting on the incident, Russell admitted it was his own misjudgment that led to the contact. “I made a good start alongside Oscar. He had the slipstream from Lando and when he pulled out in front of me and hit the brakes I misjudged it, hit the brakes my side and I was locking up the rear tires and was about to crash into him, so had to take avoiding action and that’s where it all went wrong.”
Despite his recovery drive, Russell was left disappointed, acknowledging that even without the incident, Mercedes lacked the pace to challenge Ferrari and McLaren. “It’s really quite disappointing because so much hard work goes into all these weekends for it to go away so quick. But, ultimately, I don’t think we would have had the pace to fight with Ferrari and McLaren,” he conceded.
Lewis Hamilton echoed Russell’s sentiments, describing his race as “dull” and expressing frustration at the team’s lack of competitiveness. “It was a really dull, dull day,” Hamilton lamented. “I was hoping to have more pace and be able to progress, but I couldn’t even… I mean, I was I think as quick for a while with Carlos but then I had more degradation, maybe as I was right behind, not sure. Just for some reason we didn’t have the pace.”
As Mercedes grapples with these unexpected performance swings, both drivers are calling for urgent improvements to keep pace with their rapidly improving rivals. The once-dominant team now faces a critical juncture in the season, with time running out to turn their fortunes around.
