George Russell is entering this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix with a “slightly different approach”, with the Mercedes driver recognising that his qualifying performances haven’t been up to his standards.
Since making the move to Formula 1 in 2019, Russell has often been referred to as ‘Mr. Saturday’, with him tending to go unbelievably well in qualifying.
That hasn’t been the case this season, something which has frustrated the 25-year-old.
Russell has often qualified lower than he’d expect which has left him with a lot of work to do during the races.
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This has resulted in him not scoring as many points as he arguably should’ve done, mostly due to having too much ground to make up.
His race pace has often been very strong in 2023 and is something he’s been “super happy” about this season.
As a result, he’s going to attempt something different in Zandvoort, to hopefully then be able to make the most of his strong race pace.
“There was definitely something short-term that we looked at,” Russell told RacingNews365.com.
“Spa probably validated our thoughts and where we’re perhaps been going in the wrong direction with a few setup choices. It’s only minor things.
“Our race pace has been really strong this season. On a personal level, I’ve been super happy with my race pace.
“Qualifying, which has been always my strength has been a bit of a weakness in recent races and we have some ideas why that is.
“Things we’ve done with the car perhaps helps the race but compromises qualifying too much.
“So as I said, we’re going with fresh eyes this weekend, a slightly different approach and see what it brings.”
Russell is currently 49 points behind Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship, having finished behind his team-mate nine times already in 2023.
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The former Williams driver has beaten Hamilton just three times this season, something will likely frustrate him.
Should he improve his Saturday performances, then he’ll be in a better position to challenge Hamilton, who has been Mercedes’ lead driver.
As thing stand, Russell will struggle to repeat his 2022 heroics and finish ahead of his team-mate in the Drivers’ Championship.