George Russell makes bold ‘on paper’ claim for 2022 Singapore Grand Prix

Mercedes are still searching for their first victory of 2022.

With the recent Dutch Grand Prix having looked like the closest Mercedes would come to victory this season, George Russell has given hope to Silver Arrows fans across the world, after claiming that the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix “should suit” the W13.

Mercedes have faced a disastrous season, with the German team still searching for a victory this season.

Should the Brackley-based team fail to win one of the remaining six races this season, then it would see the team’s streak of having won at least one race every year since 2012 end.

The recent triple header featured two circuits which were expected to cause Mercedes trouble, with Spa and Monza both being low downforce circuits.

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Mercedes have struggled at high speed circuits, making the Marina Bay Circuit much more suitable for the W13 due to its relatively low-speed nature.

Whilst Russell is somewhat optimistic about his team’s chances at Singapore, he is aware that the W13 has suffered at street circuits this season.

Mercedes struggled to deal with the bumps at Azerbaijan and Monaco, with Sir Lewis Hamilton having suffered from porpoising so extreme at Baku that he complained of spinal pain.

The Silver Arrows are certainly more upbeat as of late, potentially due to the team finally having a “clear direction” on how to improve the W13, but also next season’s car.

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“On paper, Singapore should suit our car,” Russell said, as quoted by Autosport.

“But when we look back at the street circuits of Monaco and Azerbaijan, our car doesn’t fare too well over the bumps. So, we’re not too sure how it will fall out.

“But we need to keep on pushing, keep on improving the car. I’m pleased that we’ve got a clear direction we need to go [in] now.”

Russell’s optimism was matched by team principal Toto Wolff, who is confident that the upcoming Grand Prix, which sees drivers pushed to their physical limits, will be one of the team’s “better circuits”.

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The Austrian noted that the “layout” is much more “suitable” for extracting maximum performance from the W13, in somewhat of a warning to Red Bull and Ferrari.

“The layout of the circuit has to be suitable for our car,” Mercedes’ team boss told Auto, Motor und Sport.

“We still believe that Singapore will be one of our better circuits. But at the same time, we want to be careful with predictions.”