“It is hell,” George Russell on porpoising issues at Mercedes
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George Russell
Formula 1 has completed five rounds in the 2022 season and last race weekend out it visited the United States. The inaugural Miami Grand Prix was hosted in a season with so many new rules and regulation in the sport. These fresh alteration have changed the way a Formula 1 car runs on track and each team has faced the challenge to come up with a strong package. One team that was termed as the favourites to exploit these new rules was the Mercedes.
The 8 time constructor champions have dominated the sport for consecutive number of years now. However, the W13 developed by the team has a lot of shortcomings and is not able to match the pace of the leaders. The major problem for the German racing stable is the porpoising issue that does not let them run the car in the desired set-up. The drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have really struggled on track to deliver performance out of this package due to the porpoising.
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George Russell has faith in a Mercedes comeback
The team based out of Brixworth and Brackley are learning more and more about their car each race weekend. At the Miami Grand Prix, the team introduced new parts for the W13, which helped them secure a P5 and P6 finish in the race. George Russell reflected on the Miami weekend by saying “We have always known that we have a fast car, but I would not take Friday in Miami for reference, as it was an anomalous session and we ourselves can’t understand why we went so fast.”
The new recruit at Mercedes further added “ Lewis did a better job than mine in qualifying, but he did better on Friday, while the others improved by over a second. I think my race pace was two tenths slower than Leclerc on Friday, and in the race he returned to at least half a second, if not more. In the end the race didn’t go so badly, but it certainly didn’t go very well. Didoto call the car ‘diva’? I think it is an understatement, because it is an absolutely unpredictable car. When we suffer from porpoising cornering, driving it is hell.”
The young Brit currently stands P4 in the drivers world championship with a tally of 59 points. Russell remains adamant in the capabilities of the Mercedes team and looks forward to the Spanish GP, where a new package is anticipated to arrive for the 8 time constructor winners.
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Anish Arora
(130 Articles Published)