Russell hints at myterious boost issues that were different from the previous power unit problems
George Russell admitted he was disappointed after another difficult Formula 1 weekend ended without points at the Belgian Grand Prix, with a boost-related issue leaving him vulnerable on the opening lap before contact with Lewis Hamilton forced him into retirement.
The Mercedes driver had made a strong start at Spa-Francorchamps and appeared to be in contention at the front, but a loss of deployment on the opening lap significantly affected his straight-line speed. Russell dropped backwards into the field and found himself battling the Ferrari drivers before his race came to an early conclusion at Turn 5.
Running alongside Hamilton, the two cars made contact, sending Russell into the gravel trap and ending his afternoon after only a handful of corners.
The retirement left Russell with zero points, while his Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli went on to claim victory and extend his championship lead. Russell admitted the result was another frustrating setback.
"It’s been another difficult weekend, and I leave Spa disappointed that we’ve had another race where we’ve not scored any points."
The Briton acknowledged that Mercedes has endured too many weekends where it has failed to maximise its potential, but insisted the team will regroup ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
"We’ve had too many of those weekends recently, but we will reset again and see what we can do in Budapest. We want to go into the shutdown with positivity and hopefully we can do that with a better Grand Prix in Hungary."
Russell explained that the boost issue he experienced during the race was different from the problems Mercedes had been investigating earlier in the weekend.
"The issue we faced with our boost on the opening lap was different to what we’ve been trying to solve earlier in the weekend."
Despite the setback, Russell felt he had started the race in a strong position: "I made a good start and was in a decent position to fight for the lead but didn’t have the speed we expected on the run to Turn 5."
The lack of straight-line performance left him defenceless against the cars behind: "I was overtaken by several cars behind and the incident with Lewis (Hamilton) followed."
Russell stressed that Mercedes is working hard to address its reliability and performance issues, admitting that the problems have already cost the team valuable points.
"We are working flat out as a team to improve our reliability. We know it has cost us too many points so far this season and we’re all determined to get on top of it."
Although the result was frustrating, Russell praised the efforts of Mercedes' factories in Brackley and Brixworth: "It’s frustrating for everyone but I know just how hard everyone at Brackley and Brixworth is pushing to improve it."
