George Russell said Mercedes have taken a wrong turn with their car development after finishing a distant fifth in the Belgian Grand Prix.

The driver who won the Canadian Grand Prix last month took the chequered flag almost 35 seconds behind race winner Oscar Piastri. After his sole pit stop Russell was on the tail of Max Verstappen but he finished 13 seconds behind the Red Bull driver.

“We need to understand why we’ve lost so much pace in recent races,” said Russell, who hasn’t finished in the top four since his victory in Montreal.

“Of course it’s frustrating for all of us as a team,” he told the official Formula 1 channel, adding that fifth place “was probably flattering the real pace of the car.”

“I’m at least happy we got the maximum possible,” he added.

Russell believes the team’s problems can be traced back to a development decision they made earlier in the season.

“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,” he said. “It sometimes takes a few races to understand what the real reasons are for that lack of pace.

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“But clearly it seems like we need to revert back to what we had earlier in the season.”

His team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli endured a tougher weekend, failing to progress beyond the first round in both qualifying sessions and failing to score any points. However he felt happier with his car’s balance after increasing his wing level for the rain-hit grand prix.

“Today I had more confidence in the car,” he said. “Definitely with the new wing I had more stability and that was helping. The car felt more connected so I definitely got some confidence back.

“But now it’s time to really try and work for qualifying because when you start at the front it’s another story completely. It’s important especially for Budapest where it’s even harder to overtake to really do a good qualifying in order to start at the front.”

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2025 Belgian Grand Prix
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