© Sam Bloxham for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
After qualifying in P8 for the Mexican Grand Prix, George Russell says Mercedes’ performance was not down to the car, but the tyres.
After an amazing showing at the United States Grand Prix, in Mexico Mercedes did not perform as well as they expected.
After qualifying in P8 for the Mexican Grand Prix, George Russell said the main issue they had was tyre preparation.
“We tried something slightly different with the tyres to get a bit more performance and just under hit it, the tyres were too cold and weren’t working,” the Briton said.
“It’s really frustrating this weekend because it’s been so up and down like a yo-yo. At one point we were the quickest in FP3, Q2 we were first and third and then in Q1, Q3 we were nowhere. I think that goes for most drivers on the grid.
“I think there were very few drivers, probably Danny [Ricciardo], who was the most consistent driver throughout that session whereas everyone was up and down. Unfortunately we were down when it mattered.”
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George added the issue Mercedes had was not caused by their car.
“It’s not really down to the car because if you take qualifying as an example, the car doesn’t change at all.
“The only thing that changes is how the tyre interacts with the temperature, the out lap, a bit of traffic on your out lap. It just transforms it. It’s really frustrating when it’s like that.
“At the end of the day we got it wrong, others got it right so we can’t be throwing our toys out of the pram.
“But it’s a real shame as we had high expectations for this weekend,” Russell concluded.
