George Russell has already defended Mercedes’ front wing as the team’s design comes back under scrutiny. Mercedes were among a number of teams to introduce upgrades ahead of last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, where Kimi Antonelli claimed his third victory of the season.
Lewis Hamilton recently called on Ferrari to investigate Mercedes’ front wing after his team brought several new components to the car but still finished behind their rivals in Miami. The British driver was promoted to sixth place after his teammate Charles Leclerc received a time penalty.
“Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull are doing something different with the front wing to us,” Hamilton said. “So we need to look into that to see whether or not there’s something we can improve on.”
Mercedes driver Russell has previously hit back at rivals’ concerns about the feature. The front wing became a topic of discussion after footage of Antonelli’s car emerged during the Chinese GP in March.
It appeared that the Mercedes driver’s front wing failed to close within the permitted timeframe under braking. F1 regulations stipulate that the front and rear wings must open at specific points before shutting within 0.4 seconds once the brakes are applied.
“It wasn’t intentional, and I don’t think it’s not an advantage, for sure,” Russell said in March, defending his Mercedes teammate. “It’s actually a problem, so something we’re trying to solve. It isn’t a straightforward solution, but there is definitely no advantage to that because when we brake, the front wing is still open.
“Kimi had the lock up [towards the end of the race]. I think this was a contribution to the front wing, so it’s definitely not intentional.”
Mercedes have made an impressive start to the season, with Russell sealing victory in the opening race and Antonelli subsequently racking up three wins. When quizzed about their rivals’ early claim, Russell said: “That’s just how sport goes on to be honest. That has always been the case.”
He continued: “Just because we’re sort of back on top, I don’t think it’s quite right, everybody’s trying to slow us down, especially when you’re two races in.”
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Lewis Hamilton has discussed updates made to other teams’ cars(Image: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
However, Hamilton’s recent remarks suggest he believes Mercedes, along with McLaren and Red Bull, remain ahead of Ferrari. The Italian outfit will be desperate to get back among the frontrunners at the Canadian GP this month, having missed out on the podium in Florida.
“Mercedes did bring improvements, just not the same as others,” Hamilton said after the Miami GP. “They had like two and we had, I don’t know, eight or something.
“Their package is coming next race. The team [Ferrari] worked incredibly hard to run those components and it has taken a step, but the others have also taken a step.
“I heard McLaren brought a step, but that it was worth much more than they anticipated. That’s not how we’ve experienced ours. So definitely they’re doing something different.”
