Leap of Faith or Calculated Risk? George Russell Ready to Gamble on W15’s Might

The pre-season testing is just days away, and the anticipation around the same is extremely high. After two relatively poor seasons, Mercedes have nothing but resurgence on their minds. Binning their older concept in favor of a completely new W15, there is a renewed faith in the Brackley camp. As such, SilverArrows.net quotes George Russell as he spoke about the anticipation around the W15.

Russell’s excitement around the W15 was visible on the day of the car launch. He admitted he could not sleep on the night before the launch, as he just wanted to see the car and get the feel for it. Furthermore, he said the first round only scratches the surface, and a team gets the real idea of their performance several rounds later.

“To be honest, I couldn’t sleep last night because it’s this element of anticipation. I think when you arrive to round three, four or five, you’ve got an idea or an expectation of your performance. When you arrive to the first test and you arrive to the first race, you have no idea how this car is going to perform.”

Commenting further, Russell said teams have an indication of the improvements they have made. However, how they would fare against the improvements made by others remains a mystery. As such, it is crucial to remain positive in the developments made by the team’s engineers. The pre-season testing and the first few races are a time when everyone sits in anticipation. Hence, it becomes crucial for people to not worry and hope for a positive result.

George Russell explains the struggles with W14

Ahead of the 2024 season, Russell looked back at a winless season in 2023. The primary reason behind the same was a subpar car design that made life tricky for the Mercedes drivers. Russell conceded that the team was “tripping over itself” with the W14.

The root of the problem took shape in 2022 when the W13 had intense porpoising issues. With new regulations coming into effect, the Silver Arrows took the wrong development path. They fixed it with the W14, but new problems arose in 2023.

Instability at high speeds ended up being the most iconic of them all. Furthermore, setup issues persisted throughout the season, resulting in setbacks in their performance. Russell believes his team has understood the problem and is ready to improve.

The last two years have seen them understand their flaws and develop their tools. Even the correlation between their simulations & wind tunnel and the real track is now better. Given the same, the 26-year-old believes his team is ready to mount a championship challenge on Red Bull.

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• George Russell
• Mercedes F1 team