George Russell believes Mercedes must "hope" its upgrades to its F1 car "work" when they are finally delivered after falling "out of sync" in the development war.
The W17 has not been given a big upgrade package since May's Canadian Grand Prix, but Mercedes still leads the constructors' by 87 points from Ferrari heading into the Italian GP, whilst Russell is 59 points behind team-mate Kimi Antonelli in second place in the drivers' standings, equal with Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari on 183 points.
Russell is ahead by dint of holding two grands prix wins to Hamilton's one, but a resurgent Lando Norris of McLaren is now 24 points behind Russell, with Antonelli claiming that the McLaren is "now the car to beat" following Norris's dominant Dutch GP win.
Team boss Toto Wolff has claimed that due to the "financial realities" of the cost cap, Mercedes does not have the money to bring upgrades as fast as Ferrari or McLaren are, meaning the team is holding onto its developments before unleashing a big package later in the year.
With the swing in momentum away from the Brackley squad, Russell feels the team must be wary of the upgrades not working "as you expect" when delivered and thus missing out on "big points."
"Given the fact that we’re nowhere near as dominant as we once were, I think this was a very solid weekend all in all," Russell explained about his performance in the Dutch GP last time out to media, including RacingNews365.
"I was not on the podium at times when we had the best car, and Kimi was performing right at the very front. Now, you know, the pace between the two of us looks very similar, and that’s a good step forward for me.
"I’m not dealing with as many issues as I’ve faced at the end of that first half of the season, and it’s just allowing me to focus on the job. But I think these coming two or three race weekends will be a challenge for us both, purely because we’re out of sync with the upgrades.
"There is a long way to go. I think the Ferrari is looking great. Lando’s been on pole for the last two races as well, so you can’t count anybody out.
"We’ve got these upgrades coming. We’ve got to hope that they work. It only takes one issue with an upgrade, and it doesn’t work as you expect, and before you know it, you’re not fighting week in, week out, and there can be big points missed."
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