George Russell has revealed that Mercedes is investigating why he is losing speed in a straight line compared to teammate Kimi Antonelli at the British Grand Prix.
Russell recovered from an unusual run into the gravel at Luffield in Q1 to make it through to the top 10, but will start on the second row on Sunday after Antonelli took pole position.
George Russell reveals Mercedes straight-line speed issue at Silverstone
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Russell confirmed there was no damage to his Mercedes W17 after sliding into the gravel during Q1, after an inside-front lock-up at the long right-hander of Luffield.
He was able to get himself going again and back into the session, but found himself unable to match Antonelli as the teenager backed up Sprint victory with pole position for the main event on Sunday.
However, the Briton felt that he has been on the back foot throughout his time at Silverstone so far.
“There was no damage, but all weekend we’ve been losing lots of time in the straights,” he explained to PlanetF1.com and others.
“Yesterday in Q3, it was almost three tenths I lost in the straights.
“Again today in qualifying, you look at the speed traps, it’s 3k down middle sector, 6k down in the last sector compared to my teammate and compared to the McLaren cars.
“The team are working super hard to understand why that is.
“We thought we found the problem this morning and we thought the brakes were locking on, but we’re not convinced that’s the issue, but it just compounds everything, when going into the session knowing you’re at a bit of a disadvantage.
“The deployment looks okay, I’m just offset on speed in the straight – it just looks like I’m running a draggier car is the look.
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“I wouldn’t have been on pole for sure, when I definitely would have been higher up yesterday, and I think in the fight for pole yesterday and today.
“I just sort of felt on the back foot coming into today, and I’ll do my best tomorrow to get on the podium.”
Russell heads into the race 43 points behind Antonelli’s championship advantage.
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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