George Russell has admitted that Mercedes are off the pace after a “frustrating” Friday at the 2025 F1 British Grand Prix.
Russell finished fifth in Free Practice 1, fell to eighth in FP2, and maintained that pace during FP3. When asked how close he felt to the pace of the front-runners, he conceded that it is “not very close.”
The Mercedes man is one of four drivers who call Silverstone their home GP. He will certainly be hoping for a change in fortunes at the track just 10 miles from the Mercedes team base in Brackley.
On the weather impacting Mercedes’ performance during Friday
Russell spoke at length on Friday about the temperature troubles plaguing the eight-time Constructors’ Champions, but remained optimistic that improvement will be made sooner rather than later.
“After today not very close [to the front-runners]. But, it has been warmer today. The track was 40 degrees and we are hoping the rest of the weekend it cools down.
“So it is a little frustrating for us that every single week we are at the mercy of the weather and we need to improve that, especially now we are entering the summer months. We are doing everything we can to improve it.”
Closing out his answer, Russell added: “I think our fortunes will turn a little bit and it will come back towards us.”
The improvements made by Ferrari
Ferrari enjoyed a standout Friday, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc showing strong pace for the Scuderia. Both Ferrari drivers have spoken about the improvements made by the team, but Russell thinks that they are mostly benefitting from suitable temperatures over the last few weekends.
“Ferrari have really turned it up in the last couple of races. They’ve been strong in race pace all season really, but they’ve been having bad Qualifyings.
“They’ve taken a step forward purely because of the temperature. So that’s probably not great for them for some reasons.”
Mercedes and Ferrari look to be battling until the end of the season in the Constructor’s Standings, with only one point the gap between second-placed Ferrari and third-placed Mercedes.
Russell enjoying being at his home Grand Prix in Silverstone
A home Grand Prix is always a special occasion, and it’s no different for the man from Kings Lynn. Russell is hoping that the team can make some necessary improvements to put him in contention for a victory on home soil.
“I’m enjoying being here at Silverstone, enjoying seeing all the fans. I love this race weekend and I just hope we can improve for the rest of the week.”
Russell has only finished inside the top-10 at his home race once in Formula 1, in 2023. However, the British driver has won and finished on the podium at Silverstone multiple times across junior levels.
Mercedes hoping for some adverse conditions
Despite the Mercedes perfoming better in cold weather, Russell is hoping that his home GP will not be a wet one due to degredation issues.
“If it is wet for Qualifying then definitely excited for that. It’s a bit of a unique one because the wet tyres actually [degrade] more than the dry tyres.
A wet race probably wouldn’t be ideal. But, cold and dry would be ideal.”
Russell is no stranger to a sensational lap in the wet, qualifying his Williams in second place in torrential conditions at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. Mercedes themselves are also becoming ever-familiar with colder climates, as Toto Wolff has admitted that the team is struggling to figure out the warm-weather problem.
