George Russell says he cannot explain the difference with his teammate Lewis Hamilton. The younger of the two Britons at Mercedes announced after qualifying at the Albert Park Circuit that he has quite a bit of confidence in the W15 and that things will probably go a lot better in Sunday’s race. These words are at odds with the statement of the seven-time world champion, but the 26-year-old driver from King’s Lynn cannot do much with that.
On Sunday, the first Mercedes driver will only be found in seventh place on the starting grid. Russell is just one spot too far back to benefit from the grid penalty that Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Pérez received from race management for hindering Nico Hülkenberg. Teammate Hamilton did not make it to Q3 and will only start the race from eleventh place.
Hamilton made a dejected impression after qualifying in Melbourne and stated that he had little confidence in the W15. Russell, on the other hand, feels quite comfortable in the Mercedes car. However, when asked, Russell has no idea why his teammate has a completely different experience. “I’m just focused on myself and the team, and I try to maximize,” Russell, quoted by Crash.net, cannot answer. ‘I can’t really comment on Lewis’s (Hamilton, ed.) feeling.’
Russell not as gloomy as Hamilton
Although Russell agrees that the results have not yet met Mercedes’ expectations, the Briton agrees with the words of his team boss Toto Wolff. ‘We had a strong qualifying in Bahrain with P3. Without the problems in the race we would have fought for the podium and would have been P5 in Jeddah,” Russell also believes that Mercedes has not yet been able to utilize the true potential of the W15.
“P7 is not ideal, but there are certainly opportunities on Sunday,” continues an optimistic Russell. ‘I think we will be much better on Sunday when we have more fuel on board and the pace is a little slower for everyone. But this circuit does not play to our strengths. Anyway, for my part I feel a little more confidence and consistency in the car. We know we have to improve in the fast corners and on this circuit there are quite a few of those,” said Russell.
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