In a potentially explosive move, George Russell has contradicted his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s recent claims regarding the role of drivers in shaping the design of a Formula 1 car.
Russell firmly believes that the responsibility for creating a successful car lies primarily with the team’s engineers and designers, downplaying the influence of drivers, with the statement coming as Mercedes struggles to keep up with rival Red Bull in this season’s Constructors’ championship.
Mercedes currently finds itself 130 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ standings after only six races. With the gap growing, the design of the W14 has faced substantial criticism for the team’s lacklustre performance.
Despite the mounting pressure, Russell maintains that drivers can only contribute to improving the car to a certain extent.
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“Every single race and every time we drive on track, we’re giving our feedback on what we need from the car and what needs to be improved,” Russell explained, emphasising the importance of utilising simulators for car development.
He also mentioned the collaborative efforts between the drivers, engineers, and main designers in setting the direction for improvements.
However, Russell made it clear that attributing the success or failure of a car solely to the drivers is an oversimplification. He praised the intelligence and brilliance of the engineers and aerodynamicists who often go unrecognised for their contributions to car performance.
“But at the end of the day, it comes down to the bright and intelligent designers and engineers to deliver the goods with the direction that between Lewis and I, and the main engineers, have set out and what we need to deliver.”
This contradicts Lewis Hamilton’s previous remarks in March, where the Brit expressed dissatisfaction with the design process of the W14.
Hamilton claimed that his input was not adequately considered by the team. He stressed the need for accountability and acknowledged that the team had not gotten the car’s balance and weak points right.
“I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need.
“And I think it’s really about accountability, it’s about owning up and saying ‘yeah, you know what, we didn’t listen to you, it’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work’.
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“We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team, that’s what we do. We’re still multi-world champions, you know?
“It’s just they haven’t got it right this time, they didn’t get it right last year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get it right moving forwards.”
As Mercedes seeks to turn their fortunes around, it remains to be seen how their internal dynamics and collaboration between drivers and engineers will shape their future performance on the track.