BUDAPEST, Hungary – Mercedes has fixed an engine problem that limited George Russell’s top speed after the cause was discovered ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Russell, 28, revealed at last week’s Belgian Grand Prix that he had an engine problem that prevented him from achieving the same top speed as Kimi Antonelli, his teammate and title rival, in certain sections of the track.
Although the problem was initially thought to be related to his driving style and drawing too much battery power, Russell told Spa that it was in fact a “serious problem”.
His frustration was not eased when he retired on the first lap of Sunday’s race after being spun by Lewis Hamilton and Russell angrily complained on the radio about his lack of battery power, causing him to be swallowed up by passing cars at the end of the long straight.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Russell said Mercedes were able to identify a software issue with its post-Spa engine and have now fixed the situation.
“It was essentially numbers on the screen that weren’t quite calibrated correctly,” Russell said. “So it’s not that the equipment is faulty or has problems.”
Russell explained that he had problems with the battery draining power at the sweet spot of the Spa lap – the longest track of the year where engine performance is critical – but there was also a separate issue related to software calibration.
“I’m not going to just say numbers on a screen,” Russell said. “But now we know which numbers were potentially wrong. We can fix it, recalibrate everything and get (the engine) running at full power.”
Russell added that Mercedes is “reasonably confident” the software issue has now been fixed.
In qualifying at Spa, Russell finished more than half a second behind Antonelli, who took his sixth pole of the year. Antonelli was a full 5.6 mph faster than Russell at the points in the final sector, which was a long, flat section.
Russell said there were times when he also struggled with an engine problem during the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, but the problem got worse at Spa.
“But for me, it’s history,” Russell said. “It’s all over now. I’m just looking forward to Budapest. I love the track. It’s going to be a really tough weekend.”
Russell was the pre-season favorite for the Formula One World Championship, having captained the Mercedes team for most of his previous four seasons with the team. He won the first race of the year in Australia comfortably from pole position.
But then 19-year-old Antonelli took control of the title race, winning five races in a row. His victory in Belgium, combined with Russell’s retirement, left them with a 50-point gap at the top of the table heading into the Hungarian weekend.
Russell admitted that “a huge burden was lifted off me” when I learned that the problem was not related to his driving style, and training carried out at Spa in an attempt to correct his approach ultimately proved “kind of for naught”.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend where I can just try to focus on riding fast, focus on the simple things,” Russell said. “I know that’s when I’m at my best, but we’re not playing an easy sport.
“So saying, ‘Let’s just focus on the simple things,’ is sometimes easier said than done.”