F1 News
Russell blames calendar over Mercedes' lack of progress
For the third year under this set of regulations, Mercedes are still trying to catch up. While they were able to finish in second place in the constructors' championship, the German team are now fourth in the order. George Russell believes the F1 calendar made it harder for his team to improve
"I think this has come at a really good time for us. I think personally I've been enjoying the sprint race weekends, but when you're trying to get on top of your car, trying to test things, only having those one-practice sessions for the past two race weekends," the Briton said in Imola.
Russell added: "It’s been over a month now, I think, since the last conventional race weekend where you can afford to test, and it has put us a little bit on the back foot, but ultimately we find ourselves in this position because of maybe a lack of understanding earlier in the year, so we're quite excited to get back to a standard weekend."
After two sprints in Shanghai and Miami, Mercedes will now have a regular weekend to test their car. Mercedes have brought 5 modifications this weekend, but they are more track-specific. While Mercedes are trying to catch up, on the other hand, McLaren have won their first Grand Prix since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix in Miami, even though their package was introduced at a sprint weekend.