Rising F1 star George Russell says that Mercedes have a "clear direction" to close the gap to rivals Ferrari and Red Bull after a disappointing season.
Despite being short of pace compared to their rivals 24-year-old Russell has had a breakout year and sits fourth in the championship standings with six races remaining above team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes won nine races last season and the constructors' title for the eighth consecutive season, but look set to lose that record.
Russell, who was signed from Williams Racing ahead of this season, says Mercedes now understand why the car performs better on some courses more than others.
“I think we understand exactly why at circuits like Zandvoort and Budapest why we were competitive, and we understand why at circuits like Monza and Spa we were uncompetitive," said Russell talking to the F1 website
"That doesn’t mean that we can solve the issues overnight. But we’ve got to keep on developing this car and next year will sort of be an evolution of this and I think now we do have a totally clear direction of how to develop the car.”
Russell had to settle for third at the Italian GP behind both Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc last weekend. The British driver was surprised by the pace of Ferrari on their home circuit as Leclerc took pole position.
“We expected Max and the Red Bulls to be competitive and exactly how they were this weekend and how they were at Spa but Ferrari caught us by surprise, so that is why we couldn’t really fight for that P2,” Russell added.
The gap between Mercedes and second placed Ferrari above them in the constructors' standings is just 35 points with six races remaining. Mercedes technical director Mike Elliott is eyeing a second placed finish with Red Bull seemingly out of reach.
He added: "We want to try and fight Ferrari for that P2 position, we want to try and win a race this season or multiple races ideally but most of all we want to get ourselves back on track so we are fighting properly for a championship next year."
