Mercedes F1 driver George Russell has branded the W15 as the “most inconsistent” in Mercedes’ storied history.
The British driver’s critique touches on the inherent unpredictability of the W15’s performance. He shared his frustration, citing that while the car can deliver an outstanding lap, its performance can drastically dip in the next lap without any apparent changes.
Whilst speaking to the media ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he celebrated his maiden F1 win in 2022, Russell explained:
“In 2022, in the porpoising era, without a doubt that was far more unpleasant, but because of the nature of those cars.
“It was far harder to get close to the limit because you were jumping around every single corner, and you knew that it was going to bite you.
“The problem we’ve got with this car at the moment is you think it’s not going to bite you, and you can achieve a really great lap, and then suddenly, nothing changes — or you feel nothing change the following lap — and you lose all that performance.
“So without a doubt, this is probably the most inconsistent our performance has been as a team in probably forever.”
Russell’s teammate, seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, also spoke about how he was feeling ahead of the race weekend. He described the year so far as “turbulent” during the Drivers’ Press Conference:
“Confident. I mean, it’s been a very turbulent year. I think we always arrive with confidence and with a positive mental attitude, but the car is just, I don’t know how, I’m sure it’s similar for the other drivers, but there’s glimpses of hope and then things it swing back and forth, whether it’s tyres, whether it’s the aero.
“So you never know what you’re going to get. I always feel like Forrest Gump when I say that! But then, yeah, I’m hoping the car… The last race was really positive for us in terms of the end result, but through the weekend it was definitely, with George’s crash during the weekend and then I started with a bad start of the race, but then got better towards the end, so there’s definitely potential within the car and we’re always just looking to fine tune it and hope that we can extract more from it. And I’m hoping, with the new surface track layout here maybe we can have a better race.
The Brackley-based squad is currently in the fourth position in the 2024 Constructors’ Standings with 366 points. McLaren is currently leading the championship with 566 points followed by Ferrari in second with 537 and Red Bull in third with 512 points.
2024 F1 Constructors’ Championship: Current Standings
1. McLaren – 566 points
2. Ferrari – 537 points
3. Red Bull – 512 points
4. Mercedes – 366 poitns
5. Aston Martin – 86 points
6. Haas – 46 points
7. VCARB – 36 points
8. Williams – 17 points
9. Alpine – 14 points
10. Sauber – 0 points
