George Russell’s F1 Austrian GP weekend showed Mercedes’ 2025 struggles. Russell described conditions at Red Bull Ring as a “perfect storm.” This ruined hopes of building on his recent Canadian victory.
Just two weeks after celebrating in Montreal, Russell battled for scraps in the Spielberg heat. He crossed the line in fifth place. Russell was Mercedes’ sole representative in the points battle as his teammate Kimi Antonelli was involved in a collision early on.
Track conditions create perfect storm
Russell blamed the rough track surface and high temperatures. The Red Bull Ring hit 50 degrees on the tarmac. These conditions hurt Mercedes more than other teams.
“This was a bit of a perfect storm,” he said. “The tarmac’s like one of the roughest of the season. Obviously, high-speed circuit, you’re going around the track many times. So, the most number of laps in the season and then 50 degrees track temp. So, it was sort of that perfect storm, really.“
Mercedes won in Canada because of cooler weather. The team struggles when tyres overheat. Russell knew this would be a problem before the race started.
Mercedes continues to search for solutions
Russell said that the team expected trouble at the Austrian GP. The heat made things worse than predicted. Mercedes has worked for six months on this problem.
“I was expecting a bad race and it was worse than I even could imagine,” Russell said. “The problem is so clear, coming off the back of Canada with the win, with no tyre overheating, we’re the quickest. But as soon as you get to a track where there’s a bit of overheating, we drop off so much.“
The team has ideas but no breakthrough yet. Russell said they haven’t made major progress on the tyre overheating issues.
“The team have been working so hard for six months now to try and solve this issue. We’ve got ideas, but nothing that’s really, we’re not really making major headway right now,” he said.
Mercedes maximising points for Championship hopes
Mercedes currently trails McLaren by 208 points and is behind Ferrari by 1 point. Russell said 5th place was the best result possible. The team tries to get maximum points from every race. They did this in Canada with the win.
“For sure damage limitation, I think,” Russell said. “I still take pride in the fact that almost every race this year, we’re maximising the results. Today, P5, we definitely could not have achieved anything higher than P5. The same way as last week, the win was the potential, and we got the win.“
British GP offers hope for cooler conditions
George Russell is optimistic about Mercedes’ chances at next weekend’s British GP, with cooler weather conditions potentially playing into the team’s hands at Silverstone. The forecast shows temperatures in the low 20s for his home race, news that prompted an enthusiastic “Brilliant” response from the British driver.
Last year at Silverstone, Russell took pole position. His then teammate, Lewis Hamilton, won for Mercedes.
“Silverstone is the highest-speed circuit, but the tarmac is actually quite new, which is good news. If the track temperature is the same like last year, it was like 20 degrees, I think, last year. So, it was quite cool, we were on pole,” he said.
But Russell knows hot weather could ruin their chances. England hit 31 degrees two weeks ago. Mercedes wouldn’t be competitive in those conditions.
“But if it’s two weeks ago, it was 31 degrees in England. So, if it’s 31 degrees, we won’t be on pole this year,” Russell said.
Russell wants cloudy skies for the rest of the season. Mercedes needs cool weather to compete with McLaren and Ferrari.
“So, fingers crossed, it stays cloudy for the rest of the season,” Russell said.
The Austrian GP showed Mercedes’ weakness in hot conditions. Silverstone could give them another chance to win. But only if the British weather stays cool.
