George Russell sounded the alarm on Formula 1 campaign of Mercedes 2025, admitting that the underlying problems in the performance of the car could derail the team’s hopes to compete at the front while the season enters its warmer phase. The British driver endured his most disappointing Grand Prix of the season in Imola, finishing seventh after starting third on the grid – a result which has visibly frustrated and in search of answers.
Addressing Sky Sports F1 after the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna, Russell did not hide his concern concerning the development department of Mercedes. “The trends are quite clear. When it is hot, we are slow. When it is cold, we are fast. It was the same thing last year,” he said, referring to the recurring struggle that Mercedes was faced with two consecutive campaigns.
Despite Mercedes introducing an improved front suspension and a new front wing in Imola – games that had raised hopes in the garage – the car has once again wobbly when track temperatures increased. Although Russell’s disappointing result was partially shaped by an unhappy virtual security car and a questionable strategic call, the basic problem, he said, is more deep than the circumstances of the day of the race.
“We did everything with the configuration to try to find solutions, but there is clearly something more fundamental in the car,” he recognized.
Russell is currently fourth in the pilot ranking, 47 points at the drift of the leader of the Oscar Piastri championship. While the Mercedes driver has managed to strike over the real performance of the car so far, with four podiums during the first six laps, the limitations have become austere in Imola.
“This is not the first race this season that we were slower than Ferrari, or even on par with Williams,” admitted Russell. “We just managed to get a result on these occasions. But today we were very lucky to finish P7 in all honesty. ”
The second driver of Mercedes, the recruit Kimi Antonelli, also made his disappointing debut at home, forced to retire with an accelerator problem. However, with Verstappen lacking constant support at Red Bull and Ferrari who also vacillates in recent races, Mercedes remains second in the manufacturers’ championship.
However, they follow McLaren – now clearly the form team – by 132 discouraging points.
Russell’s evaluation reveals an increasing concern within the Brackley -based team concerning their inability to adapt to different track temperatures. The performance of the car tires seems to be radically fluctuating according to the conditions, echoing the Mercedes problems last season, when they were more competitive in the cooler races but lost a rhythm in the summer heat.
The 2025 car, which was to be an important evolution, always seems to continue the same inconsistency.
“I wouldn’t say that we lack ideas to solve tires,” Russell noted, “but as I said, he is sort of cooked in the car.” As parallels with Ferrari’s own past difficulties, he stressed how the Scuderia had gone from a car that excelled in qualifying to that which now works better in the racing garnish – although without fully understanding the change. “We have to find a better compromise, especially before the next race,” said Russell. “We are approaching summer, and that doesn’t really bode well for us. We have to think quickly. “
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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