Russell was right
George Russell had been saying for a few weeks: his Mercedes had a mysterious problem that was hindering the delivery of electrical energy.
The team tried to advise the driver to modify his driving style, only to throw their hands up in Belgium and admit that the problem was not due to the Englishman, but to an aspect related to the car.
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There was a software problem
As reported by The Race, Mercedes investigated Russell’s troubles very thoroughly, identifying the problem in Spa-Francorchamps qualifying as a “hidden element in his power unit’s code”.
This element pushed the algorithm to concentrate the delivery of power in the initial part of the lap.
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Thus, the system used extra energy in the section leading to Les Combes, then leaving Russell ‘hungry for energy’ towards the final chicane.
Mercedes therefore acted promptly, finding a fix to the software code problem, and is confident that it will not recur at the Hungaroring – where, in any case, energy usage will not be one of the most worrying issues of the weekend.
