George Russell wants Mercedes to find some more downforce for their 2022 F1 challenger. The German team struggled in the qualifying session for the 2022 Belgian GP, but managed to do better on Sunday and finished the race in P4.
Mercedes' qualifying pace is nothing like it was in 2021, with Russell and Lewis Hamilton barely making it out of Q1 on multiple occasions. However, the team tends to perform a lot better during the main race, proving that reliability and race pace are their strong suits.
George Russell said the team is still three or four tenths behind Red Bull at almost every track and is yet to win their first race of the season. The Briton claims the team needs to find a way to generate more downforce and make their car more efficient.
George Russell said in a press conference ahead of the 2022 Dutch GP:
"We're still, on average, three or four tenths behind Red Bull, and we need to find some more global downforce and maybe make our car a bit more efficient so we're not losing so much time on the straights."
George Russell tries to live a 'normal' life despite being being famous
George Russell has said that he tries to live his life as normally as possible despite his popularity rising to a whole new level this season. While the life of an F1 driver is not normal by any stretch of the imagination, the Briton claims that he 'feels' like a normal person.
Russell has been mighty consistent this year and has secured multiple podiums and even his first pole position in the sport at the 2022 Hungarian GP. He has fared well against Lewis Hamilton, who can be a daunting teammate.
In an appearance on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Russell was asked if he's able to live a normal life, considering his recent rise to fame. He said:
"I don't know, I still feel like a normal person. If somebody asked me, 'Are you famous?', I'd say, 'Not really, no', but then if I asked somebody else, or if I asked my friends if they thought I was famous, they'd probably say yes."
With the upcoming 2022 Dutch GP's track in Zandvoort set to favor Mercedes a lot more than the circuit in Belgium, George Russell could hope for yet another podium finish.