Russell suggests this F1 rule changes so Mercedes can 'catch up quicker'

F1 News

George Russell suggets this possible rule change to help close gap
27 June at 17:29
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  • Toby Nixon

In the last few Grand Prix, Mercedes has recently joined the fight at the top of the timesheets. With a pole position and two podiums in two races, Mercedes finally looks like they can fight with McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull. Canadian GP polesitter George Russell told GPblog and others in Austria that if wind tunnel time was based on points scored instead of championship position, Mercedes, and others, would be able to catch up to Red Bull at a faster rate. 

The Brackley-based team currently sits 4th in the constructors on 151 points, 86 points behind third-place McLaren. In both qualifying and the race, Mercedes has performed much better than they had done earlier on in the season. The Silver Arrows will be hoping they can keep competing at the front end of the F1 grid in Austria. George Russell, who finished 4th at last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, believes that a wind tunnel rule change might help Mercedes catch their rivals quicker.

"I think the wind tunnel thing is really good but it's based on positions at the moment rather than points. Red Bull has had double the amount of points than the second-place team and constructors. They get the same difference in wind tunnel reduction as second or third get in the wind tunnel as Mercedes did to Ferrari last year. There were only three points different so maybe if it's based on the number of points scored rather than actual position in the championship that would help the team to catch up quicker." Russell explained. Mercedes finished second in the constructors with 409 points in 2023, with Ferrari just three points behind. 

Mercedes has 'made a really good step' with upgrades

The Brit also discussed the quick rise of his Mercedes team, as he stated that recent developments have drastically changed his W15: "The team are doing a great job sort of bringing these developments through earlier than expected and probably not in drips and drabs rather than your one big upgrade in one sudden race. Clearly, the car has made a big step forward, but we still need a little bit extra to get in that fight week in, and week out. But at the end of the day, we've had two races so far with the whole package, one of which we probably could have won and we had the fastest car. The other one, we were the third quickest. Lewis was on the podium. So I think that's also the natural fluctuation of car performance. Let's see what the next two races bring, but for sure, we've made a really good step." Concluded Russell, who will be hoping to spoil Red Bull's home race party with a good result this weekend in Austria