It is not a secret that Mercedes is having a tough time in the 2022 Formula One Championship. They have lost both the Driver\’s and Constructor\’s fronts by a grand margin. Still, the team is still searching for their Grand Prix win. Meanwhile, the positive for Mercedes is the performance of their driver George Russell. The young Briton has punched above his weight in the 2022 F1 season. But can he score the first win for Mercedes in the Mexican Grand Prix? What are the chances? Keep reading to find out.
George Russell Leads Practice in Mexican GP!
Mercedes has had a very dismal season due to the implementation of new design regulations; they still need to win a race. But when Lewis Hamilton came in second place to world champion Max Verstappen in Texas last weekend, it was the closest he had ever come to winning. On the other hand, some Mercedes supporters are optimistic about George Russell\’s performance in the Mexican Grand Prix.
In Mexican Grand Prix\’s second practice session, George Russell pushed Mercedes to the top of the time charts. A significant collision for Charles Leclerc marked the extra session, which included additional 2023 tire testing. On 2022-spec soft tires, Russell set the early pace with a lap time of 1 minute, 19.970 seconds. Given that the normal drivers who did not participate in FP1 were allowed to run their own program for the first half of the session to assist them in making up for the lost time.
Russell set the pace for a short while until Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari as it approached the fast Turn 7. and abruptly slid rearward into the barriers near Turn 8, severely damaging the vehicle\’s rear end and raising the red flags. In addition to George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon used the current C4 soft as they made their comeback. Compared to the Alpine driver, the AlphaTauri driver was about eight-tenths of a second off the lead.
Due to the high altitude of Mexico City, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit presents a special challenge to F1 vehicles. Mercedes\’ general inability to compete with Red Bull under more normal circumstances could work in their favor. Four drivers had access to 2022 tires, including George Russell. After missing the first session, he set contemplative times during Practice Two.
Russell finished first on the timesheet without a surprise because Red Bull and Ferrari were not among the teams doing young driver tests. George Russell has had a challenging stretch of his incredibly excellent Mercedes rookie season, whereas Hamilton has shone lately. Despite this, Russell is aiming for \”at least\” a podium finish in the race on Sunday.