George Russell believes the current Mercedes Formula 1 car is the “most inconsistent” the team has ever had, as it continues experiments on its upgrade package in Brazil.
With Russell and Lewis Hamilton having both endured crashes with the latest version of the W15 since the United States Grand Prix, Mercedes is trying to get to the bottom of why there seems to be some quirkiness with its handling.
Both Mercedes drivers are committed to running with the latest floor in Brazil, which feature some minor revisions compared to what Hamilton had in Mexico as the team works on improving its stability.
It is understood that there will also be minor differences between the versions that both drivers use in first practice to further help the team get a better understanding of what it needs.
While Mercedes has had some good times with its car this season, winning three out of four races before the summer break, Russell said there remains a lot of confusion over the fact that it does not seem to offer a predictable platform.
“I think in 2022, in the sort of porpoising era, without doubt that was far more unpleasant,” said Russell, reflecting on Mercedes’ progress during the recent ground effect era.
“But because of the nature of those cars, it was far harder to get close to the limit because you're literally jumping around every single corner, and you knew that it was going to bite you.
“The problem we've got with this car at the moment is you think it's not going to bite you, and you can achieve a really great lap. And then suddenly nothing changes, or you feel nothing changes, and the following lap you lose all of that performance.
“So without a doubt this is probably the most inconsistent our performance has been as a team in probably forever.”
Russell explained that the differences in floors, with the Briton getting his new version back on the car after it was repaired following his Austin qualifying crash, across the two cars was very small.
“We're both going to be on the updated floor,” he said. “We've got a small difference in specification as a bit of a trial, but it's not an update as such. It's just in the realms of normal aerodynamical testing.”
Track surface impact
One critical factor to Mercedes’ hopes this weekend will be how much the new Interlagos track surface impacts the heat of the tyres.
The team’s car is known to be very sensitive to track temperatures, and the hotter it gets the worse its performance can be.
With early predictions pointing to the newly-resurfaced dark asphalt being hotter than it was before, Russell thinks it is an element that Mercedes needs to be mindful of.
“The colour of the tarmac has an impact, so the darker the colour, the hotter the temperature,” he said.
“On the flip side, it's a very smooth surface, so the tyres will be able to probably run hotter and be penalised less because it's so smooth. That's the theory.
“But we don't know if it's going to be good for us or bad for us. Austin was the best example: Friday qualifying, we're both fighting for pole. Saturday qualifying, Lewis is out in Q1, I end up in the wall and nothing has changed.”
