George Russell warns Mercedes must react quickly, as rising temperatures continue to expose the car’s persistent performance issues.
George Russell was left dissatisfied with his seventh-place finish in Imola. The Mercedes F1 driver once again noted that his car struggles in hot conditions, just as it did last year, and voiced concern about the situation as summer approaches.
“We were just extremely slow,” said Russell. “The trends are quite clear. When it’s hot, we’re slow. When it’s cold, we’re fast. It was the same last year.”
The Briton believes even seventh place wasn’t guaranteed and is urging his team to improve quickly: “We’ve done everything with the setup to find solutions, but clearly there’s something more fundamental in the car.”
“This isn’t the first race this season where we’ve been slower than Ferrari, or even slower or on par with Williams, but we managed to get a good result on those occasions.”
“But today, we were very lucky to finish seventh, to be honest. I wouldn’t say we’re out of ideas to solve the tyre issue, but as I said, it seems to be embedded in the car.”
“A few years ago, Ferrari were extremely fast in qualifying and slow in the race. Today, it’s the opposite, and they don’t really understand why. So we need to find a better compromise, especially ahead of the next race in Monaco. Summer is coming and that doesn’t bode well. We need to react quickly.”
Antonelli reflects on home race struggles and setback
Andrea Kimi Antonelli admits pressure and mechanical trouble marred his Imola weekend, but he vows to come back stronger at Monaco.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli endured a very difficult weekend that ended with a retirement due to a mechanical issue: “It wasn’t a happy ending. It was tough. I got caught in a DRS train during the first stint, the tyres suffered and I tried to hang on. We were lucky with the virtual safety car.”
“I had high hopes but then had a throttle issue and it gave out. It’s a shame, these things happen and I think the pace wasn’t bad. With the problems, I don’t know if it could have been better, but I was losing power. There was nothing I could do. I’ve learned a lot and I’ll try to come back stronger in Monaco.”
Off the pace all weekend, the Italian admitted he didn’t manage the pressure or the media whirlwind that comes with a home race: “This weekend was mentally and emotionally intense. From my side, I didn’t do the best job.”
“I didn’t manage my energy well, and I could feel it was affecting my driving. I felt like I didn’t have as much energy. On that front, I’ve learned a lot for my next home race.”
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