Will Russell take the lead at Mercedes? 'He's the anchor to the team'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Mercedes finished fifth and sixth in Miami, but the gap to the men from Ferrari and Red Bull Racing was again huge. At Sky Sports, Danica Patrick and Jenson Button talk about the internal frustration and the role as a leader that George Russell seems to be taking on.
Russell takes the lead
It's a difficult period for Mercedes. After eight world titles in a row, this year the team is struggling to get close to Ferrari and Red Bull Racing. The W13 is simply not fast enough and that causes irritations within the team. Especially Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton show their dissatisfaction, where Russell continues to look at it positively.
"To me Russell sounds like the anchor to the team right now. Lewis is frustrated, he doesn't feel like they've made any progress. Toto sounds very frustrated, I know they're not doing what they're used to doing but George sounded collected. It will be interesting if there's some kind of abort on whatever they're trying to do. Or whether they stick at it, it seems like we're reaching a breaking point," says the American driver, Patrick.
Irritation at Mercedes
Button thinks this is a bit short-sighted, however, because it is also easier for George. After all, he comes from Williams where he had an even worse car, where Lewis is used to winning with Mercedes since 2014. Yet the 2009 world champion also sees discontent within the German camp.
''The reason why Mercedes struggle so much is because they have the porpoising in the high-speed corners as well. Straight-line speed is fine, it's just not comfortable for the drivers. Lower speed corners, the Mercedes car is very good so the potential is definitely there," concludes Hamilton's former teammate.