Russell Relieved Mercedes Issue Was Not His Driving Style

George Russell says a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders after Mercedes finally found the root cause of the problems that plagued him in the last two rounds. It turned out the issue was not with his driving style, but with his car's power unit.

At the British and Belgian Grands Prix, Russell struggled with straight-line speed issues. Initially, the team suspected it might be related to Russell's driving technique. However, ahead of the Hungarian GP, it was revealed that the problem actually stemmed from the Mercedes power unit, and there was little Russell could do about it.

The Briton now finds himself 59 points behind team-mate Kimi Antonelli in the standings as F1 returns from the summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix. Russell feels relieved that the issue was not his fault.

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“It is a huge load off my mind, but also while I'm driving, through Silverstone and the majority of Friday and Saturday at Spa, I think about how I needed to drive to make the power unit fast in the straight,” Russell explained to media, including RacingNews365.

“How I pick up the throttle, the gear usage, how early I am on the throttle, and the data was telling us that this was probably the reason, but it turned out it wasn't the reason,” he added.

“So all of that effort over the course of three sessions, trying to re-optimise my driving around a new technique, was kind of for nothing. If I focus on the simple things, I know that is when I perform at my best, but we're not in a simplistic sport, so saying let's just solely focus on the simple things is easier said than done, sometimes,” Russell concluded.

With this discovery, Russell hopes to be calmer and more focused in the second half of the season. He is confident heading to Zandvoort, a track with a different character, where he can show his best performance without mental burden.