During his Silverstone shakedown on Friday, George Russell commented about how the W13 looked on circuit.
After experiencing the new Mercedes W13 for the first time, George Russell has shared his first impressions.
On Friday, Mercedes burned up one of their filming days by heading to a drizzly and windy Silverstone Circuit, where Russell got to test the new engine just hours after the team’s season premiere.
Russell had to deal with tremendous rain and winds as the UK was hammered by Storm Eunice all day, and he spoke to media afterwards about the traumatic experience.
“It’s the windiest day I’ve ever experienced in my whole motorsport career,” he told media, including RacingNews365.com, after stepping out of the car to hand over to Lewis Hamilton.
“It was absolutely crazy, but we managed to keep the car on the black stuff.
“To be honest, we just went through the programme, just running it, making sure I’m comfortable, which I am and am pleased about.”
Russell noted that the weather prevented him from getting a good feel for the car.
“The car handled largely as we expected,” he went on to comment.
“But, with these conditions in the wet and with the wind, there’s not a huge amount you can take from it.
“So far, we’re in a good place. I think we’re in a good window ahead of Barcelona [testing].”
New Mercedes “in line with what we saw in the simulator”
Russell was pinching himself after his first official outing as a 2022 Mercedes Formula 1 driver when the car was powered up and sent out on track.
“Well, firstly, they gave me goosebumps when the car was fired up for the first time,” he said.
“I’ve driven so many laps in the simulator, I’ve seen so many drawings of it, I’ve had so many meetings about it, but there’s nothing like going to a racetrack.
“It almost brings me back to my roots [with] a cold, wet windy day at Silverstone.”
Russell also mentioned that the vibe he had reminded him of the Mercedes simulator at the company’s Brackley facility.
“I think the facts are, if you take the exact same car when there’s no wind, and then you put it in 100 kilometre per hour winds [like] today, it’s going to feel very difficult to drive,” he said.
“It certainly wasn’t easy out there with the conditions, but it was very much in line with what we saw in the simulator. I’ll be going back correlating.
“But it’s going to be a constant learning process. I think we’re all going to take today with a pinch of salt and just get through the programme, make sure the car runs OK, make sure the drivers are comfortable, and make sure we’re in the best spot possible.”
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