Russell says he backed Mercedes’ return to older spec for Singapore before Malaysia race
Archive photograph: George Russell · 2024-07-04Archive photo · 2024-07-04 · Raph_PH · CC BY 2.0
Russell says he initiated discussion of a return to Mercedes’ pre-Sepang specification before the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and already favoured the move. After the engine failure at Sepang, he called it a “total no-brainer”; the Singapore penalty gave the team an opportunity to revert.
George Russell says he initiated the discussion about returning Mercedes to its pre-Sepang specification before the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. He said Mercedes was about 50-50 on the move, while he was already in favour. After the engine failure at Sepang, he called the switch a “total no-brainer”; the power-unit penalty for Singapore gave Mercedes an opportunity to revert, he said.
Mercedes will run split specifications in Singapore: Russell is set to use the specification he had in Baku, before the Sepang updates, while Kimi Antonelli keeps the latest package. Mercedes says it will evaluate both specifications over the weekend. The team also says Russell’s power-unit penalty will mean a start from the back of the grid on Sunday.
Russell said he saw no sign that the update was not working and described Mercedes’ performance swings as specific to Malaysia. Antonelli also called Sepang an outlier because of the rough tarmac and said he believed the new package was an improvement.
Team principal Toto Wolff said Mercedes had identified several areas for further investigation and needed more evidence before drawing firm conclusions. The team says the Singapore evaluation should help it decide which direction to take next.
Sources 03
- SOURCEGeorge Russell: "No-brainer" to run previous car as Mercedes splits specifications for SingaporeMotorsport.com F1
- PRIMARY SOURCESingapore Will Be an Important Test – Toto’s Singapore GP PreviewMercedes F1 · Team statement; interested source
- SOURCEMercedes confirms George Russell's grid penalty for F1 Singapore GPMotorsport.com F1
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