George Russell is convinced that Mercedes will continue to make “huge strides” in the 2022 Formula 1 season and secretly even calculates chances of winning a Grand Prix.
While some pundits believe Zandvoort may have been the W13’s best bet, Russell sees other tracks that should suit Mercedes.
There is no track that stands out as particularly suitable for Mercedes, says Russell, but then names two. Firstly: “Singapore. Could be interesting, but on the other hand it’s a track that Mercedes has often struggled with in the past. And the street circuits haven’t been so good for us this year.”
Second: “I think Austin could be a track that suits us.” Incidentally, he takes a completely different view than Toto Wolff, who said in Zandvoort that he still expects some very difficult tracks for Mercedes, and Austin “could be such a race. We’ve already talked about that.”
Russell: Better to win races than second place in the world championship
However, it is sometimes forgotten that Russell is still in the middle of the battle for second place in the Drivers’ Championship. He is currently in P4 with 188 points, just 13 points behind Charles Leclerc and Sergio Pérez. But P2 is probably more important for his fans than for himself. Because: “We’re here to win. Nobody even remembers who was second in the World Cup.”
“If I have the choice of winning a few more races but finishing outside the top 3, or finishing in the top 3 without wins, then I always take the wins. It’s important for the team that we Ferrari in the constructors’ championship. But I’m only interested in the title. And that’s no longer possible for the team.”
Mercedes made up a further eleven points on Ferrari in Zandvoort. The gap is currently 30 points. In theory, a team can collect 322 points with seven remaining Grands Prix. This shows that it is by no means unrealistic to overtake Ferrari. In Baku, Mercedes caught up 27 points on Ferrari in a single Sunday of racing.
Why Monza could be better than Spa
But now Monza is on the agenda. A low downforce track that is similar to Spa in many ways – and at Spa Mercedes were losing. But: “We didn’t have the most ‘bouncing’ in Spa at all in the fast corners, but in turn 15. It’s very bumpy and our underbody was too close to the asphalt there.”
“Eau Rouge, on the other hand, wasn’t a problem at all, we didn’t have any restrictions there. Also, we also see with Ferrari that they still touch down quite hard. When our underbody touches down like at Spa and we have to raise the car, it becomes difficult. But Monza has been partially repaved. That might help.”
In addition: “The fastest curve here is 190 km/h. In Silverstone we’re talking about 290 km/h. That will help us. However, I can’t imagine that our performance will be anywhere near as good as in Zandvoort. You won’t be as bad as in Belgium either. But more like Spa than Zandvoort,” he fears.
Tires: The great strength of the Mercedes W13
“Red Bull will be faster, that’s no question. They have everything under control,” says Russell. “But we have the chance to fight with Ferrari. We were really fast in Zandvoort. But we only had the chance to win because of the one-stop strategy and because we are so good with the tyres. Red Bull and Ferrari wouldn’t be there with one stop got through. We do.”
A characteristic of the W13 that is rather counterproductive in qualifying for one lap, but helps when protecting the tires over the race distance: “We’re very good at temperature management,” confirms Russell. “That plays against us in qualifying, at least in theory. Although we don’t know enough about it to say for sure.”
“Some of the midfield cars put more temperature in the tires, so they can do their out-laps slower and therefore have more performance on a fast lap. We, on the other hand, sometimes break the soft tire and its surface a little bit in the out-lap. That we see it quite often.”
Wolff: The “parachute” has to go!
With regard to 2023, however, the overall aerodynamic concept of the vehicle is much more important for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton has described the efficiency of the W13 in the past as saying he feels as if he’s being slowed down by a parachute on the straights. Or, in other words: The air resistance is too high.
“We’re thinking of removing the rear wing completely to be less vulnerable on the straights,” says team boss Toto Wolff with a wink. “We have a car that produces far too much drag – and the contact pressure where we don’t need it. We can’t change that anytime soon. But for next year.”