© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Despite the difficulties Mercedes is facing, Toto Wolff and Andrew Shovlin say Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s partnership is “going really well”.
Mercedes has been having performance issues with their car since the 2022 pre-season testing, so it’s very hard for their drivers to perform at their maximum.
Despite this, Toto Wolff has praised George Russell’s performance in the first two races of the season.
“I think he does a great job,” the Austrian said.
“But he is not given a tool to fight at the front where he and Lewis deserve to be.
“They have both… George has proven that he has the ability of racing at the front but simply at the moment we are not providing him with the car.
“So I am very happy with his performance overall,” Wolff concluded.
The team’s Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin was asked whether Russell got the best out of his car at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
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“Absolutely, he finished P5,” the Briton said.
“We know there is a big performance gap between us and the Red Bull cars, us and the Ferrari cars, so ultimately, P5 is the best that we can do at the moment, and we are working very hard to try and improve that situation.”
However, Shovlin says its hard to assess the overall performance because of the difficulties with the car.
“How do we assess his weekend though? Well, it’s not just on where he finishes.
“It is looking at how he is performing through the sessions, how well George and Lewis are working together, which is going really well.
“They are both very determined to get on top of this car and try and bring more performance to the future races.
“And he has really settled in very well with the team. So, we had high expectations for George, he is delivering on those expectations.
“So we are all happy,” Shovlin concluded.
