Hamilton and Russell don't understand why Mercedes' pace fluctuates
Following the disappointing Monza F1 round, Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell claim that they do not understand why Mercedes' pace has been fluctuating so much in recent races.
Mercedes looked strong in all practice sessions at Monza, and expected to be in contention for pole positions, but George Russell and Lewis Hamilton only managed a third and sixth spot on the grid.
The seven-time world champion performed a great start, and tried to stay close to the sharp end of the field, but he was steadily losing connection to the leading Ferraris and McLarens.
In the end, the Briton finished down in P5, leaving him slightly disappointed after another race where Mercedes lacked race pace compared to Ferrari and McLaren.
"We didn’t have the pace today to fight for more. The McLarens and the Ferrari in particularly were strong. I managed to keep up with Sainz but couldn’t do the longer stint and the one-stop that he was able to.
"If we had started ahead of him, we might have been able to hold him off. Ultimately though, we needed a better balance with the car today to achieve much more.
Hamilton continued: "It’s a shame to come away from a weekend where we were looking so strong without more to show for it. We looked good throughout practice and qualifying but couldn’t quite match that today.
The field is so tight now and it will be fascinating to see what happens over the coming races. We will keep working hard and hopefully have a stronger race in Baku in two weeks’ time."
His team-mate George Russell lost valuable track time after having handed over his W15 to Italian sensation Andrea Kimi Antonelli. With the F2 driver causing extensive damage to his W15, he sat out the opening 20 minutes of the second practice session.
Despite the limited track time, Russell was able to qualify himself third on the grid. However, the Briton endured a shock start, having narrowly crashed into the back of Oscar Piastri's McLaren.
Having suffered a damage to his front wing through the contact with Piastri, he was forced to take a new wing during his first stop which heavily compromised his race.
Reflecting on his seventh-place finish, Russell added: "It was a frustrating day today. Ultimately, we didn’t have the pace to fight for the podium, but my race came undone at the first corner. It is disappointing when that happens after all the efforts the team put in over the weekend.
"I made a good start but got caught in the dirty air behind Piastri. I locked up to avoid him and picked up some front-wing damage. That compromised my opening stint, and we lost time in the pit stop having to change the wing itself.
"Our pace hasn’t been as strong as it was prior to the summer break, either here or in Zandvoort. As a team, we will go away, put the effort in, and find out why that is.
"Other teams seem to have taken a step forward so we will need to work diligently to get back onto terms with them."
