Russell sums up his ‘frustrating’ day spent behind Alonso in Saudi Arabia.
George Russell finished the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in P6 having spent some 40 laps right behind Fernando Alonso, but unable to pass the Spaniard.
09 Mar 2024
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

‘Frustrating day’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/v...611911709.html


George Russell’s alarming “getting slower” admission about Mercedes
George Russell makes alarming Mercedes admission after finishing sixth in Saudi Arabia.
10 Mar 2024
Lewis Larkam
Crash.Net

George Russell says Mercedes are “getting slower” as F1 weekends develop following another disappointing performance at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. After a similar showing in the opening two rounds, Russell believes Mercedes are “getting slower” across the sessions, rather than rival teams improving.

“We're still really trying to understand this car because we have shown true performance at points over the last two weekends,” Russell said. “FP1, straight out of the box, we were top of the timesheets and always in the top three. FP2, P2. Then, both weekends, the pace just falling away from us.”

“That hasn't been our competitors getting faster; that's been us getting slower. So, we need to understand why that is. But it's fine margins now. It’s so close with ourselves, McLaren, Aston. Charles [Leclerc, Ferrari] is just a smidge ahead. We just need to tap into it a bit more.”

“Getting slower”;

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/104550...about-mercedes


George Russell highlights concerning Mercedes W15 trend after Saudi Arabian GP
10 Mar 2024 6:30 PM
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

George Russell says Mercedes must work to understand why the W15 is getting slower, not faster as a race weekend progresses.

Mercedes went into the F1 2024 campaign hopeful of a stronger season after going back to the drawing board for their W15, putting a challenger on the track that is more conventional appearance wise versus the Red Bull RB18/RB19 concept which dominated the first two seasons of Formula 1’s ground effect era.

But the opening rounds of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia showed that Mercedes still has a lot of work ahead if they are to take the fight to Red Bull, who have started out with a pair of one-two finishes.

‘Concerning Mercedes W15 trend’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/george...r-race-weekend


Data shows only Haas were slower than Mercedes in one key area during Saudi Arabia Grand Prix
Mercedes were slower than Alpine and Williams in one area during Saudi Arabia GP
Mon 11 March 2024 12:30
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Mercedes lost out to two of the slowest cars on the Formula 1 grid in one area at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Alpine beat Mercedes in high-speed corners. Formu1a.uno journalist Piergiuseppe Donadoni has now shared the data from the event, and it paints a bleak picture for Mercedes.

In the ‘fast’ sections of the track, the W15 was a full 12 km/h slower than Red Bull’s RB20 on average. Worse still, bottom-of-the-table Alpine were ‘slightly’ quicker in those areas, as were Williams. Mercedes, who could only outpace Haas from turns four to 10, haemorrhaged time relative to Norris.

‘Mercedes, who could only outpace Haas…’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/mer...udi-arabia-gp/


Mercedes’ Struggles Have Continued Into 2024
March 11, 2024
Nicole Powell
LastWordOnSports

Mercedes have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons since the introduction of the new regulations in the 2022 season. The W13 and W14 were disappointing cars, to say the least. Especially as per the usual standards that Mercedes had set in the recent past. This season, the W15 hasn’t proved to be much of an improvement as of yet.

No impressions in qualifying: Mercedes have rarely been a threat in qualifying since 2022. Just like in the previous two seasons, one-lap speed is not Mercedes’ greatest strength, or near it.

Watching Mercedes in Q2 is like being jump-scared, as they often look like they could not make it through to Q3. Mercedes are often seen around the danger zones in qualifying, and rarely ever challenge for a front-row start.

‘Struggles Have Continued’;

https://lastwordonsports.com/motorsp...ued-into-2024/