Mercedes arrives on the Austrian Grand Prix with a wholesome lead in each the Drivers‘ and Constructors‘ Championship, however George Russell mirrored on the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix forward of this weekend’s Spielberg race, describing it as a “actuality test” regardless of taking pole place at Montmelo two weeks in the past.
Talking forward of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Russell stated Ferrari’s efficiency on the Circuit de Barcelona‑Catalunya highlighted how aggressively their rivals are growing.
“Yeah, I undoubtedly suppose it’s a actuality test as a result of Ferrari have clearly had an excellent chassis this entire season. Their energy unit has been a bit behind us, fairly a bit behind us, however all of a sudden in Barcelona they appear to have made a step ahead.”
He famous that Ferrari’s straight‑line efficiency — historically a Mercedes power — had improved considerably: “They have been a lot nearer to us when it comes to their straight-line velocity and, you understand, they’re bringing a whole lot of upgrades, which has been fairly shocking for us.”
Whereas Mercedes has launched just one improve to date this season, Russell identified that Ferrari and McLaren have been relentless: “We’ve introduced one improve this season to date.
„We’ve obtained some within the pipeline, however Ferrari and McLaren, each couple of races, are bringing bits to the automobile. So, you understand, we have to carry on pushing and I believe each time a crew is bringing a brand new bit to the automobile, they’re making large steps ahead.”
Balancing Upgrades With the Value Cap
When requested whether or not he would love Mercedes to deliver extra updates, Russell acknowledged the complexity of improvement underneath the fee cap.
“Nicely, it’s very difficult today with the fee cap and you could possibly at all times determine to drag the set off and begin bringing an improve in a few races’ time, however you additionally have to be strategic of when is the optimum level within the season and if you happen to can afford to deliver extra upgrades or not inside the fee cap.”
He prompt that Ferrari and McLaren could also be allocating their budgets in another way: “Perhaps they’ve obtained a barely totally different strategy and so they’re saving cash elsewhere and spending extra on the upgrades. It’s a compromise…”
Regardless of the stress from rivals, Russell emphasised that Mercedes nonetheless holds the benchmark place: „And, you understand, on the finish of the day, we’re nonetheless the crew to beat. So this can be one other good weekend to see if Ferrari are nonetheless on that good type or if that was a one-off.”
F1
