'So Many Question Marks': Russell Can't Understand Lack Of Pace In His Mercedes
F1Tuesday, 07 November 2023 at 17:00
Updated at Tuesday, 07 November 2023 at 17:34
Mercedes F1 driver George Russell commented on the performance of his Mercedes throughout the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit.
The 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix has truly been one of the most disappointing weekends this season for the Mercedes team and their fans.
Silver Arrows came to the Interlagos Circuit with pretty high expectations after previous years' success. In 2022, Mercedes managed to win both races of the Sprint Weekend with a one-two finish during the race on Sunday.
In 2023, Lewis Hamilton finished seventh in the Sprint race and eighth in the race. His teammate George Russell finished fourth in the sprint race and had to retire from the race on Sunday.
In total, the Mercedes team scored 11 points in Sao Paulo. The team principal, Toto Wolff, labeled the weekend the worst in 13 years - since the return of the Mercedes team to Formula One.
Hamilton called the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend 'one to forget,' and Russell marked it the 'weakest race of the year.' As reported by RacingNews365.com, the 25-year-old also said after the race:
"There's so many question marks. It's the exact same race car as what we've had since Austin, where the car has been capable of podiums every race, even before in Singapore and Qatar, [it was] capable from the podiums."
Similar to the seven-time World Champion who said he at least hopes for lots of learnings from the weekend, Russell said: "This is clearly a substantial one-off event, but we need to understand what we got wrong."
Scuderia Ferrari is slowly catching up with Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship. The current gap ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix is 20 points. Russell said in relation to race in Las Vegas:
"We will be on a totally different rear wing, so I don't expect to be the quickest [in a straight line]."
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