"We are struggling" - Mercedes' George Russell says team's issues may 'continue the whole year'

Mercedes driver George Russell claims the team's issues may continue throughout the season. While the driver is optimistic of a 'quick fix' in the coming weeks, he claims there is no reason for the team to suffer all season.

The Silver Arrows have looked off the pace when compared to Red Bull and Ferrari from pre-season testing in Barcelona. While many claimed the team was sandbagging ahead of the season opener, their qualifying performances in Bahrain confirmed the worst for fans of the team. Their newest driver, George Russell, is unsure whether the team can get their act together over the course of the entire season, let alone in the coming weeks.

The Briton spoke about Mercedes' issues, mainly highlighting the porpoising issue, saying:

“We hope it will be as soon as possible. But there is no reason why it may not continue the whole year. It’s promising to see that other cars have had the same issue and they managed to solve it which means there is a solution there. But we are struggling to find it. It would have been brilliant if we solved it in testing where we had so much running, but we truly just don’t know how long it will take.”

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Lewis Hamilton claims Bahrain result is "incredibly motivating" for Mercedes

George Russell's teammate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton claims the team's P3 and P4 finishes in Bahrain are motivating for the team. Hamilton managed to sneak his way onto the podium after Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez retired due to reliability issues.

The Briton is happy with his team's result in Bahrain, claiming P3 was the best finish Mercedes could have gotten. Speaking of the podium he achieved, he said:

“Huge! I think it was incredibly motivating for the whole team given that we have been facing these challenges which we were not expecting. No one has been down during this phase - even through practice. Everyone has been staying positive. Everyone’s kept their heads down and kept working. No one has moaned. That’s great to see. Whilst we don’t have the performances as these other guys, we have squeezed everything out of the car.”

With the second edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix just around the corner, all eyes are on Mercedes. It is still unclear whether they will be able to come up with a decent fix for their issues, leading to widespread worry from fans.