George Russell (Mercedes F1) finished fifth in the 2022 F1 Round 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying.
George Russell continues to suffer from excessive bouncing of the W13, but in qualifying he won the 5th grid behind the 4 cars in the top two. Still, the gap with the top was 1.3 seconds, and Mercedes F1 said it couldn’t get the true performance out of the W13.
“It was an optimized session, but being more than a second away from Paul isn’t what we want. It’s probably the biggest gap we’ve seen this year,” said George Russell.
“It’s a tricky circuit and we have the most” real “corners we’ve experienced this season so we have a lot to do. The laps were nice and the car feels good. Of course, the gap is not good. “
“We expect much more from ourselves and we’re working hard to bring more performance, but this weekend definitely highlights the strengths and weaknesses of all of us in the car. Feels fine except straight. All bumps are the hardest I’ve ever felt in a race car and the braking zone is barely visible. “
“But the car feels good through the corners. I know it’s out of balance or the car isn’t in the right window of the setup. It’s largely due to downforce. To get downforce. I’m balancing a lot of limits. I know there’s a lot of performance out there, but I don’t know how to get it out. “
Category: Category: F1 / George Russell / Mercedes / F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix