Mercedes: Software issue “affected George more than Kimi”

Russell was hindered by a deployment issue that Mercedes has got to the bottom of

Mercedes deputy technical director Simone Resta has delved into George Russell’s recent woes, as the team identified a software issue compounded by the Briton’s older power unit.

Russell and his squad have been mystified by a lack of top speed relative to team-mate Kimi Antonelli at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. Mercedes’ lead racer attempted to tweak his driving style, to no avail, as his troubles were linked to the power unit’s software code resulting in an imbalance in energy distribution.

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Formula 1Mercedes identifies George Russell's F1 power unit software issue

“As we all know, it’s a very complex new set of regulations with the power unit,” Resta said. “It’s quite early days. We’ve just done 10 races so far, and there is a lot to learn. We are still learning a lot together, ourselves and our colleagues at HPP. We found a bug in our software, and we had to react to it.

“There was already something there at Silverstone, but the issue was more evident at Spa, which is one of the tracks with the highest lap time for power delta. We think we’ve finally understood it and nailed it coming into Budapest.”

Resta made it clear that Antonelli’s car was not immune to the issue, but the Italian sophomore benefitted from a newer powertrain in that context.

“The software is the same for all the cars, and it was there in every car, but it affected George more than Kimi,” he said.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

“We also need to bear in mind that, when comparing their performance in the last few races, Kimi was on a fresher power unit, which is, of course, always a bit better than quite a used power unit. That will change in the next races when we start to have a fresher power unit on George’s side.

“So, there’s a bit of everything. There’s a bit of software, but there’s also Kimi being out of phase with George’s programme. You sum up everything when you look at the final result.”

Russell’s issue indirectly led to his retirement on lap one of the Belgian Grand Prix, as he was swallowed up by his rivals on the Kemmel Straight before being spun into the gravel trap by former team-mate Lewis Hamilton. As a consequence, he is now 50 points down on Antonelli in the drivers’ standings.

Asked by Motorsport how important it was for Russell that Mercedes took his worries and complaints seriously, Resta replied: “First of all, as a team, we’re really thankful to George for having challenged us and highlighted an opportunity where we needed to focus. He has been really good at understanding and highlighting things to us. We have finally been able to identify the solution and put a fix in place for this race. So, thanks to George for having done that for us, for the team.

“Of course, he’s quite pleased that we’ve been able to get to the bottom of it and sort it out. It has been good teamwork. It wasn’t the easiest thing. As I said, with the new regulations, there are still a lot of things to learn. But it’s a step forward.”