P1racenews AI automatic summary:
George Russell has said that Mercedes’ 2024 Formula 1 car is “clouting the ground” at high speed in Saudi Arabia,
British driver George Russell showed strong performance in the practice sessions in Jeddah, consistently in the top four and even reaching second place in FP2. Despite a mistake in the final qualifying run that dropped him to seventh, Russell believes Mercedes must analyze why they did not perform as expected. He mentioned a regression in performance compared to previous sessions and races, emphasizing the need to find the optimal setup. Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton struggled with the car’s rear end, leading to changes in the rear wing setup. However, Russell pointed out that the bouncing issue affected his qualifying performance, indicating a need for a better compromise in car setup. Mercedes is working to understand the balance between downforce and performance limitations caused by bouncing, aiming to improve their race pace and challenge their competitors.
