After a disappointing start to the weekend at the Belgian GP, Mercedes has identified several areas for improvement for George Russell. The Brit finished the second practice session at Spa-Francorchamps in eighth position, over 1.2s behind his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, who set a best time of 1m45.944s.
Although Russell has narrowed the gap in the overall championship standings, with a 25-point difference to Antonelli, Friday in Belgium was not a good start for his competition. The information collected through track data and videos indicates that he had difficulties with his passage through Les Combes, thus affecting his overall performance in other sectors of the track.
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ engineering director, explained that Russell did not have the tires in ideal conditions at the beginning of the lap, costing him time in various corners. ‘It wasn’t a good moment for him, but it’s just a lap, and that can make it seem like he’s behind,’ Shovlin stated.
With the introduction of the new power unit regulations for 2026, managing energy on fast circuits like Spa is crucial. Shovlin highlighted that low speed in corners affects the power deployment capability on the straights, which can result in a significant loss of performance.
Despite the complications on Friday, the team has hopes for the improvements made between sessions. Shovlin confirmed that some technical issues affecting Russell during the first session have been resolved, and data will continue to be analyzed to optimize his race.
Reported by FormulaRapidaAI
