George Russell is optimistic about Mercedes’ chances of rebounding at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix following a disheartening performance at the Dutch GP, where they finished 44 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris. The result marked a stark contrast to Mercedes’ form before the summer break, where they claimed victories in Austria, Britain, and Belgium.
At the Zandvoort circuit, Mercedes struggled to keep pace with the frontrunners, including McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari, in a race that highlighted significant performance issues. However, Russell remains confident that the team has identified the root causes of their underperformance and believes they will not face similar problems at Monza.
“In Zandvoort, we definitely underachieved, and we have a number of ideas why that was,” Russell said. He pointed out that the challenging conditions, including strong winds and slippery old tarmac, played a role in their struggles. Russell also acknowledged McLaren’s exceptional performance, which further exposed Mercedes’ weaknesses.
Despite the difficulties, Russell expects Mercedes to perform better at Monza, armed with the lessons learned from Zandvoort. He revealed that the team made changes to the car setup during the Dutch GP weekend that did not yield the desired results, but they have since identified those issues through post-race analysis.
Questions have been raised about the effectiveness of Mercedes’ floor upgrade, first introduced at the Hungarian GP and later used at the Belgian GP before being temporarily removed. While the team saw immediate performance gains at Spa after reverting to the old floor, the reintroduction of the upgrade at Zandvoort appeared to coincide with their drop in form.
However, Russell remains confident in the upgrade’s potential, emphasizing that the team’s struggles in Zandvoort were not solely due to the new floor. He believes that Monza will provide another opportunity to validate the performance of the upgrade and potentially return to winning ways.
“This weekend will be another good opportunity to test it [the car upgrade],” Russell said. “I’m confident the floor is working as we expect, and I think the problems we faced in Zandvoort weren’t due to the upgrade. Now we’ve got another opportunity this weekend, and maybe we conclude something different after Monza.”
With the Italian GP set to take place at the high-speed Monza circuit, Mercedes is eager to prove that their recent struggles were just a blip and that they can once again challenge for victory. All eyes will be on Russell and the Silver Arrows as they aim to bounce back and close the gap to their rivals.
