F1 News: Mercedes CTO Backs George Russell For A Comeback

Mercedes CTO Mike Elliott has expressed his faith in George Russell to be able to get what he needs to out of the tricky W14.

George Russell has found himself grappling with the nuances of the Mercedes W14 this season. However, Mercedes Chief Technical Officer Mike Elliott and the team have backed the British driver to come back to form.

Russell took the F1 world by storm last season and was very quickly branded 'Mr. Consistency'. He managed to outperform the expectations, extracting an impressive performance from the less-than-perfect W13. In doing so, he even managed to eclipse Hamilton in the points tally, a feat few thought possible.

Contrastingly, this year has been less generous to Russell. While Hamilton has basked in the limelight, celebrating on the podium four times, Russell has been there only once. He's candidly spoken about the challenges he's faced. Referring to the car's compatibility, Russell shared: 

“When you’re on the right foot, things are a little bit easier. You’re not stressing, your car is in the right place when you put it on the ground.

“I’m sure we’re going to be strong in the second half of the season. We’ve got some little things coming in after the break. I’m confident we can secure that second-best team… to try and close that gap further.”

Mike Elliott weighed in on Russell's challenges. Speaking about the current generation of F1 cars, he remarked: 

“I think these cars are hard to drive and they’re running close to the ground.

“And it’s tricky to sort of find that right balance through the corner. It’s tricky to do [that] with the stiffness of the cars.

The balancing act these vehicles demand, especially during cornering, coupled with their inherent stiffness, makes them a tough beast to tame. Yet, Elliott's confidence in Russell remains unwavering. As he optimistically puts it: 

“George is a fantastic driver so I’m sure he’ll get what he needs to get out of the car fairly quickly.”