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George Russell Optimistic About Mercedes’ Floor Upgrade Despite Zandvoort Setback
George Russell expresses assurance that Mercedes' new floor is performing according to plan, despite challenges at Zandvoort
"I believe the floor is functioning in line with our expectations, and I feel that the issues we encountered at Zandvoort weren't a result of the upgrade."
George Russell is of the opinion that Mercedes' recent floor changes were not behind their challenging F1 weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Mercedes faced challenges during Sunday's race at Zandvoort, securing the seventh and eighth positions respectively.
As the Dutch Grand Prix approached, Mercedes emerged as the dominant force, securing victories in three out of the last four contests.
The cause behind their slow speed was not immediately apparent, with Toto Wolff hinting that insufficient dry condition practice might have contributed to their subpar performance.
Mercedes' latest floor enhancement, unveiled at the Belgian Grand Prix, garnered interest but was subsequently abandoned for the rest of the event.
Mercedes' technical chief, James Allison, has acknowledged that they are yet to determine whether it is functioning as planned.
Nonetheless, in conversations with the press, including Crash.net, at Monza, Russell provided clarity on the matter concerning the floor.
"He mentioned, “This weekend presents another chance to evaluate it. In essence, introducing an upgrade to the vehicle typically yields a minimal improvement, perhaps one or two tenths at most. However, the actual performance can vary significantly from one race to another, often by several tenths. Should there be a downturn in performance during a weekend that aligns with a new upgrade, it's easy to hastily blame the upgrade. Yet, if you persist with the same setup across six consecutive races, you'll notice your performance might vary by as much as half a second against competitors."
"I'm convinced the floor is performing as anticipated, and I believe the issues we encountered at Zandvoort weren't related to the update. This weekend presents us with a new chance.
"Perhaps after Monza, we could try a new approach. I'm optimistic that it's functioning according to our expectations."
Reflecting on the Zandvoort race, Russell acknowledged that Mercedes did not perform up to expectations and aims for a stronger showing at Monza in the upcoming weekend.
"In Zandvoort, our performance fell short of expectations," he clarified. "We've considered several reasons for this underperformance. I believe the conditions were quite tough, especially with the intense wind. The track's old surface caused a lot of sliding. McLaren stood out, but I'm optimistic that the adjustments we've made based on our experience in Zandvoort will lead to improvements this week. We realized one of the modifications to the car wasn't quite right, and we're addressing that."
"However, the issue wasn't immediately apparent throughout the racing weekend. It was only in retrospect, through our analysis, that we pinpointed where our shortcomings were. We must steer clear of this moving ahead to progress."
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