According to Mercedes driver George Russell, the problems that Mercedes is experiencing with its F1 car can be attributed to ‘overcompensation’ after the problems it had with the W14 last year. However, Russell is convinced that the problems can be solved.
“We now have vehicle restrictions that are completely different restrictions than what we had at this time 12 months ago,” Russell said in Miami. “We’ve done so much work to solve those problems that we’ve gone too far in that direction. So we know we have to improve and we have to improve quickly.”
The problems that Mercedes is currently experiencing are in stark contrast to the praise that was given to the Mercedes W15 during the presentation, and even during the first races. According to the drivers, the W15 was much better than last year’s W14, but that enthusiasm was lacking in recent races. Yet George Russell is convinced that Mercedes has now found the causes of the problems and that they can now solve those problems with new parts.
“We definitely know how we need to improve,” Russell said. “I think when we look at the data, we understand why we’re in this position right now.”
“When we looked at the data last year we understood why we were in the same position and I think unfortunately we overcompensated a bit to overcome last year’s problems.