Miami Grand Prix 2024: George Russell speaks up about minor changes in Mercedes' W15 ahead of second sprint weekend

After a string of poor performances in the last few race weeks, Mercedes has finally decided to make some changes to their W15. These changes are aimed at improving the grip and control over the car instead of speed. 

Following the new parc fermé rules the team opted to implement significant setup adjustments to both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton's cars before the qualifying session for the Miami Grand Prix. Speaking about it Russell expressed his confidence in the new setup and said that the team needs to stick to it even if it is not perfect. 

Speaking to media ahead of the second sprint event of the season in Miami Russell said, “What we learned is that if you took the car upside down, and you go straight into a qualifying session. Where every single lap in Q1 or Q2 is vitally important for how it sets you up for Q3 and the tyres you have left, it's very difficult to adapt in such a short period.” 

“So probably better the devil you know than trying to find to find that sweet spot”, he further added. 

Will the new approach work? 

Further elaborating his comments George Russell said that he believes working around known deficiencies is better than adopting a new approach. “If you were to stick with a suboptimal set-up, it is a suboptimal set-up that you know, and you can adapt to over time,” he said.

“Of course, we're trying to chase perfection, trying to sometimes reach for the stars, and in doing so in such a short period, it can throw you off course. I'm sure we won't be making the same mistake this weekend. It is an incredibly exciting field out there between the four teams after Red Bull.

“And if you find that sweet spot, you can find yourself gaining five, six or seven positions on a Saturday afternoon. So yeah, we need to make sure we are in the right place to deliver”, he concludes. It’s worth noting that Mercedes will be keen to improve their performance in Miami as they have brutally failed in Shanghai despite having first-line qualifications.