George Russell, a British driver for Mercedes AMG F1, caused sparks to fly during the Formula 1 Testing in Sakhir, Bahrain on February 21, 2024. Russell expressed that Mercedes has a stronger foundation to build upon with their 2024 Formula 1 car, but acknowledged that the team still lacks downforce. Mercedes has undergone a complete overhaul with the W15 car in an effort to improve their performance after a turbulent couple of years, during which they only managed to win one race. The German team has moved on from their unsuccessful ‘zeropod’ concept and aims to produce a more compliant and user-friendly car. Russell had positive feedback on the changes made by Mercedes during pre-season, describing the latest machine as less temperamental compared to the previous two years. However, he noted that the bouncing phenomenon, which affected multiple teams at the start of the ground effect era, has reappeared for Mercedes. Despite this setback, Russell believes that Mercedes will overcome this issue more smoothly this time around, as the team is pushing the boundaries and exploring the limits of the car during testing. He is hopeful that the bouncing will be minimized during the upcoming race weekend. Russell also acknowledges that Mercedes needs to unlock more downforce to compete with top teams like Red Bull. However, with the rear end characteristics of the W14 car, which were described as spiteful, now eliminated, Russell is confident that the engineers can focus on improving performance. He believes that the development of this car will be more significant than the previous two, thanks to the improved base. However, the team still needs to find more outright performance as they are currently lacking downforce.
In an exhilarating FIA Formula 3 race at Imola, Noel León of Van Amersfoort Racing showcased his skills as he led almost the entire race despite multiple Safety...
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