Mercedes Reverts to Older Floor Design at Belgian GP: Russell Reveals Why

Clarified: The Reason Behind Mercedes Abandoning Their Enhanced F1 Floor for the Belgian Grand Prix

George Russell sheds light on Mercedes' decision to abandon their latest floor upgrade at Spa.

George Russell has revealed the reason behind Mercedes' decision to switch to a previous version of the floor for the rest of the Belgian Grand Prix F1 weekend.

At the Spa-Francorchamps qualifying session, Russell managed to clinch the seventh position, trailing three spots behind his Mercedes colleague, Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes demonstrated enhanced performance compared to their Friday practice session.

Mercedes experimented with a new floor design, but chose to abandon it before Friday's practice session.

Due to the rainy conditions and a lackluster performance on Friday, Mercedes opted to make this choice.

Following the qualifying round, Russell elaborated on the decision.

"He mentioned, "We aimed to verify again. We tested the new surface on Friday, then revisited the race by Sunday, to understand the race's outcome. In Formula 1, the variation in speed from one track to another is significant.

"Yesterday didn't turn out to be as good as we hoped, and we're making sure it's not because of the recent updates. I'm quite sure that's not the issue."

"Over the past year, we've experienced relatively smooth progress, and the enhancements we've introduced have largely been successful. This will afford us additional time to evaluate the new floor."

Anticipations were high for Mercedes to perform impressively at Spa, given their leading speed at Silverstone, a track known for its comparable features.

Nonetheless, Russell acknowledged that Mercedes must identify the reasons behind their ongoing difficulties at Spa, referencing their subpar performance in the years 2022 and 2023.

He emphasized that for three consecutive years, they've shown remarkable speed at Silverstone. This season, they've been outstandingly fast there but faced challenges at Spa. Despite the differences, he noted similarities between the circuits, such as high-speed sections and some low-speed areas, similar to Silverstone. He stressed the importance of figuring out the reasons behind these performance variations.

"It appears there's a natural affinity between certain cars and specific tracks. For instance, Red Bull consistently demonstrates remarkable speed."

"This circuit, along with Austria, is likely their best track of the year. Similarly, for us, places like Silverstone and Barcelona are where we usually perform strongly. So, indeed, it's something we need to comprehend."

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