George Russell upbeat about upgraded Mercedes’ chances at British Grand Prix

George Russell is bullish about Mercedes’ chances at the British Grand Prix this weekend after recent upgrades to the W13.

The 24-year-old finished fourth at the Canadian Grand Prix, with teammate Lewis Hamilton securing a first podium of the season in third.

And Russell is confident the Silver Arrows can build on their newfound confidence and that Silverstone will suit the car better than recent outings in Montreal, Baku and Monaco.

“(Silverstone) will suit our car more than the previous three races,” Russell told the F1 podcast Beyond the Grid.

“Monaco, Montreal and Baku are all slow-speed circuits, all pretty bumpy, the robustness of the car is quite important over those bumps and kerbs and we feel that is something we lack a little bit.

“Whereas Silverstone should be a bit smoother, a bit more of a high-speed circuit. But ultimately Red Bull and Ferrari will still be ahead.”

Technical director Mike Elliott has also detailed the hopes of the Brackley-based squad entering another pivotal weekend, while conceding despite improvements it will still be “tough” to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari, who are 116 and 40 points ahead in the constructors’ championship respectively.

“One thing you can be sure of is we will push as hard as we can,” he said. “We will be bringing new bits to Silverstone, we will be trying to push the car forward, trying to get some pace from the car we’ve got or from the package we’ve got as well as the new bits we are going to add to it.

“I think at the same time though we have to be honest with ourselves and say that, at the moment, we are just a little bit behind those front runners in Ferrari and Red Bull. And in a normal race I think it is going to be tough.”