Mercedes to hold meeting to discuss “backwards” trajectory, says Russell

Mercedes have scheduled a “big meeting” this week to discuss their poor form, according to driver George Russell.

The British driver looked to be a potential contender for the Formula One drivers’ championship early on after securing four podiums in the first six races of the year.

The team seemed to hit their stride in June when Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix while team-mate Kimi Antonelli also secured his first podium finish in Montreal.

However, Russell has failed to finish in the top three since his win while Antonelli did not finish two of those three races.

Russell finished fifth in what he called an “underwhelming” performance in the Belgian Grand Prix after passing the chequered flag almost 15 seconds behind fourth-place Max Verstappen.

The 27-year-old is hoping to find out why the team have “gone backwards” in recent races despite introducing a series of upgrades to the car.

“It was pretty underwhelming, to be honest,” Russell told Sky Sports F1.

“Because we tend to favour the cooler conditions. So we couldn't have really asked for better weather for us. But we've just had no pace recently. We need to sit down, all of us.

“We're going to have a big meeting this week with all the designers and engineers. To sort of understand the decisions we've made in recent weeks or months. And why we've gone backwards. So hoping for some improvements in Hungary.

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“P5 was probably flattering the real pace of the car, so I'm at least happy we got the maximum possible.

“We made a clear change of direction a couple of months ago, and I think it's been since that point we've taken a step backwards.

“It sometimes takes a few races to understand what the real reasons are for that lack of pace, but clearly it seems that we need to revert back to what we had earlier in the season.”