Mercedes\’ scrabble during the 2022 Formula One season has been one too many. The team has struggled with porpoising issues in addition to Lewis Hamilton not finding his groove. However, the arrival of the Japanese Grand Prix did bring a ray of hope for the team, who is still trying to find its first win. During the first practice race, George Russell came first while Hamilton held the second position. Thus, many people started to believe that Suzuka track may be the right place for Mercedes\’ first season win. However, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have downplayed the team\’s chances of winning the qualifier.
George Russell Dobuts Mercedes\’ Fate At Suzuka!
Mercedes had a productive Friday in Suzuka track. In a second practice session at Suzuka that was rainy, George Russell led a Mercedes one-two from Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes set the fastest on a drying track in Friday\’s second practice session, with Russell\’s 1:41.935 leading teammate Hamilton by two-tenths. The third-place finisher for Red Bull, Max Verstappen, was more than 0.8 seconds slower than Russell.
However, Verstappen won the pole position for Red Bull ahead of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc from Ferrari in qualifying when the weather was dry. Hamilton and Russell, in contrast, only managed to place sixth and eighth, respectively. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, on the other hand, acknowledged that they are skeptical if Mercedes\’ excellent performance in FP2 would continue during the rest of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.
At Suzuka this weekend, Mercedes are having the most trouble in the areas Lewis Hamilton has identified. The Mercedes driver\’s quickest time during the qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix was about a second slower than Max Verstappen\’s. After winning a rainy practice yesterday, George Russell, a member of Mercedes, was upbeat about the team\’s prospects.
However, the squad seems to benefit less from the dry conditions. This, according to Hamilton, is due to the W13\’s lack of straight-line speed. They have a problem that is seriously affecting them in the last sector, where most of the lap time is produced. The Silver Arrows chose a high-downforce setup for Suzuka in order to handle the challenging opening sector and the tricky chicane that ends the lap.
Mike Elliott, technical director at Mercedes, reiterated Russell\’s remarks. According to him, the models showed that the team would do better than it did in qualifying. Elliot has explained why Suzuka\’s sizable margin is not a genuine indicator of speed. He said, \”We were a little let down by the performance, in my opinion. But we didn\’t anticipate it to be a very beneficial circuit for us.\”
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