George Russell accepts Mercedes' poor pace and Lewis Hamilton should do the same

04 September 2023 , 09:06

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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell continue to have their ambitions limited by Mercedes' pace (Image: Getty Images)

The Italian Grand Prix produced another confusing result for Mercedes.

Fifth and sixth, as team principal Toto Wolff said after the race, is not something this team wants to get used to celebrating. In reality, though, it was the best they were going to get in any scenario which saw all the Red Bull and Ferrari cars finish.

George Russell finished one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton. It has been a fine start to the second half of the season for the younger Brit, after admitting he was not happy with his form prior to the summer break.

The race in Zandvoort did not go Russell's way. But he has produced two excellent qualifying results so far and, other than a silly penalty in a fight with a driver who he was not even racing – which turned out to be inconsequential anyway – barely put a foot wrong on Sunday.

"I'm really pleased with my own personal performance for these first two races," he said at Monza. Russell also declared that he is "back to my level" having "lost my way" before shutdown.

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Explaining how, he added: "[I've] slightly gone back to basics and not tried to reinvent the wheel with set-ups and just accepting the pace of the car. P4 was the maximum potential [in qualifying]. But if I went in trying to do a lap for pole, trying to find three extra tenths, I'd have ended up in the gravel because three tenths extra is just not possible."

So far, that tweaked approach seems to have done wonders for Russell, particularly on the two Saturdays. But while his qualifying form has seen a marked improvement, Hamilton has struggled in that regard.

A turbulent session in the Netherlands condemned him to just 13th on the grid after he was hampered by several other drivers impeding him on the short Zandvoort track. He encountered less traffic at Monza and reached Q3, but eighth on the grid was still below expectation.

Hamilton seemed a little embarrassed to have been out-qualified by the Williams of Alex Albon, who had another excellent weekend overall. To get himself back on track, the seven-time world champion might do well to learn from what Russell has done to reset himself.

The 38-year-old won't ever be satisfied with the fact Mercedes are not in the hunt for regular race wins and a championship fight. But if he can learn to accept the limitations of his W14 car a little more, he will be better positioned to make the most of what he has until he finally has a machine capable of matching his ambitions again.

Daniel Moxon