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George Russell says his Mercedes team cannot risk making 'crazy' changes that could derail their progress
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Published 13/04/2022 at 11:16 GMT+1
'Slow and steady' is the mantra from the Mercedes garage as their drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton continue to make the best of an under-performing car this year. Russell ruled out any "crazy" changes ahead of the Emilia Romagna GP, which begins on April 22, and said to do that would put at risk the gradual improvements his team have been able to make so far in the F1 season.
Russell admits Mercedes were a ‘bit fortunate’ to grab podium
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George Russell says Mercedes will continue their policy of incremental improvements ahead of the next race in the F1 calendar at Emilia Romagna.
The Brackley-based outfit have been well off the pace so far this year, suffering recurring problems with 'porpoising' - which sees the car bounce up and down - and other related issues.
But in spite of those difficulties, Mercedes sit second in the Constructors' Championship and second in the Drivers' Championship, with Russell achieving that latter position following his third place in Australia last weekend.
"We've got to go about the process analytically, we can't do anything crazy," Russell told Sky Sports.
"We want results and performance, but if we do anything too drastic, we're going to go backwards not forwards.
"We've got to trust our team and the process and it's going to take time, but we know there is so much potential in the car.
"We're a bit overweight, lacking a bit of downforce and we know why - because of porpoising. But if we can get on top of those two things there is a lot of lap time there.
"It's not going to happen overnight, it's going to take a number of races.
"I think there'll be little things, there'll be incremental steps but we recognise that our rivals are going to be doing the same so it may not be clear to the outside world that we've made progress because Ferrari and Red Bull are going to be making progress as well."
Russell might have hoped he would be stepping into a car that would be challenging for the title this year, given his new team have won seven of the last eight drivers' world titles.
But he is still clearly delighted to be where he is given the circumstances surrounding Mercedes.
"Someone told me and I didn't believe them," he said of his second place in the standings.
"It's pretty crazy to think, but this is a championship based on results and not necessarily on pace.
"We know if we want to keep that position, we needed to find more performance in the car but it's going to take a lot of time. But, for the time being, let's keep capitalising.
"We've got to be proud about this because we're sitting P2 in both championships and this weekend we were the fifth-fastest team.
"We were slower than McLaren and Alpine, Ferrari and Red Bull, yet we've come away with P3 and P4, which is pretty mega."
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