“These new updates are by no means unique” - George Russell urges Mercedes to ‘turn the situation around’ after recent upgrades

George Russell has stated that he isn't expecting any major improvement in the car's performance after Mercedes introduced upgrades ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

Mercedes had initially planned to upgrade the W14 before the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, which unfortunately got canceled because of flooding in northern Italy. Sticking to their plans, they brought in the planned upgrades this weekend despite the Monaco circuit not being an ideal venue to test new parts.

Ahead of the Monaco GP, Russell stated that Mercedes will not draw too many conclusions from how the car performs in the street circuit. He also said that they will work on their qualifying pace as it was an area where they struggled a bit this season. He said (via motorsport.com):

"As we said yesterday, Monaco is a unique circuit. It's not the right place to evaluate updates or modifications. And we already knew this before the weekend. So we're almost forgetting about the updates. We'll deal with them next weekend."

He added:

"We will only focus on trying to improve on this unique circuit, qualifying is obviously the most important part of the weekend. And qualifying is one part of the weekend where we generally struggle. Looking at the last 18 months, we always do better on Sunday, so we have to try to understand something during the night, but there are certainly some positive signs to be drawn from the session, which has definitely improved compared to FP1. It's never easy in this place."

Speaking about the upgrades, Russell said that the modifications to the car were not radical by any means, explaining:

"We made a lot of changes, things we would have done on the previous iteration of the car as well. So like I said, these new updates are by no means unique. And we will be working overnight to see what more we can do to try and achieve more. from a tyre."

---

"If you have got performance, you have got to use it" - George Russell on why Mercedes brought upgrades in Monaco

It was widely speculated that Mercedes would hold off the upgrades till after the Monaco GP, a slow-speed track with a high risk of accidents.

The Silver Arrows, however, brought the long-awaited updates to the Monaco street circuit instead of waiting for next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, where the more conventional Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya would have been the ideal ground to see how the upgrades would work.

George Russell weighed in on the decision, saying that the team would be "kicking themselves" if they had a good race in Monaco and did not utilize the available performance. He said:

"From our side, if we had a strong weekend here with the old car and were half-a-tenth away from pole, for example, we would be kicking ourselves, knowing that we have more performance on the table. If you have got performance there, you have got to use it."

Russell added:

"I guess it shows the trust of the team they have in us as drivers but also I’m happy to know that the team are pushing it forward. Maybe we’re sat here on Sunday night saying that was a stupid decision or maybe we will say we were right to be bold."