George Russell warns Mercedes against ‘crazy’ car changes after podium finish at Australian GP

Russell is currently second in the driver standings with only Charles Leclerc ahead of him

Sarah Rendell
Wednesday 13 April 2022 09:14 BST
Comments
Russell secured his first podium for Mercedes
Russell secured his first podium for Mercedes (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

George Russell has warned Mercedes not to make “crazy” changes to their car after he claimed a podium at the Australian Grand Prix.

It was Russell’s first top-three finish for the team who he joined ahead of the 2022 season and Mercedes’ second podium of the campaign following Lewis Hamilton grabbing third in the opening race in Bahrain. The season hasn’t gone as the team would have hoped, but Russell says they need to trust the process.

“We’ve got to go about the process analytically,” Russell said per GP Fans. “We can’t do anything crazy. We know we want results and we want performance but if we do anything too drastic, we’re going to go backwards and not forwards.

“We’ve got to trust our team, trust the process and just recognise that it’s going to take time. But we know there is so much potential in the car.”

Despite the results not quite going their way, Mercedes are second in the constructors title and Russell is runner-up to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the driver standings.

The British driver is aware the team will make strides over the coming races but says their rivals will do the exact same.

“We’re a bit overweight, lacking a bit of downforce and we know why, it’s because of porpoising.

“If we can get on top of those two things, there is a lot of lap time there but our rivals are going to be improving as well.”

Russell will look to add to his point tally at the next race this season which will be on 24 April at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in