"We’ve really got on top of the car" - George Russell feels the heat and 'slightly smoother track' at 2022 F1 French GP will 'benefit' Mercedes

George Russell believes Mercedes has a clear direction with regard to its car development and is trending towards it ahead of the 2022 F1 French GP.

The Silver Arrows team was slow off the blocks at the start of 2022 when compared to the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari and has been playing catch-up in 11 races thus far.

All the while, its team of engineers back in Brackley and Brixworth has been working non-stop to solve issues related to porpoising and ride height, while trying to unlock the true potential of the W13 that George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are driving this year.

After a raft of upgrades in the second quarter of the season, Mercedes appears to have recaptured some of the lost ground to its primary rivals this season but its work is far from over.

George Russell feels Mercedes can focus on extracting more performance from its package now that it doesn't have to experiment as much with its set up.

Speaking in an interview ahead of the 2022 F1 French GP, the 24-year-old said:

“I feel like, as a team, this is probably the first in the recent races that we’ve really got on top of the car and what we believe we need to do to bring more performance. Whereas if we look back at the first six races of the season, it was almost trial and error.”

Russell, who joined Mercedes to replace Valtteri Bottas at the start of 2022, went on to add:

“We were still really understanding what the problems were and we didn’t have a clear direction. We didn’t really know, as a team, the direction we had to take, whereas now we feel pretty confident. We’ve at least got a channel to follow. Whether we can actually now translate that into performance is another factor. At least now we feel like we’ve got a clear direction.”

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Mercedes will not change its approach for 2022 F1 French GP weekend, confirms George Russell

Mercedes is hoping for a strong showing at Le Castellet (Circuit Paul Ricard) this season. The team also expects the smooth surface of the track and a lack of extreme elevation changes to play to its advantage, according to George Russell.

Speaking to the media ahead of the 2022 F1 French GP, the Briton said:

“I don’t really think our approach is going to change whatsoever. I think the temperatures will benefit us. I think the slightly smoother track will also benefit us. But as a team we’re making a huge amount of progress at the moment. Understanding what we need to do with the car to bring more performance. I think, ultimately, that’s probably the biggest overriding factor as opposed to circuit specifics.”

Mercedes has brought a revised nose and front wing to the 2022 F1 French GP. It has also introduced a modified curvature of the floor in front of the rear tires of the Mercedes W13. According to the engineers, this design reduces local load at that point, thereby providing better airflow to the diffuser.

It remains to be seen how these upgrades will impact Mercedes' on-track performances at the 2022 F1 French GP.