Russell's Belgian P5 'flattering the real pace' of Mercedes

George Russell believes Mercedes must "revert back to what we had earlier in the season" after a disappointing Belgian Grand Prix, where his fifth place "probably flattered the real pace of the car." Mercedes has significantly lacked performance in the last three races since winning the Canadian Grand Prix, a decline Russell attributes to a "clear change of direction" in the car's development. He emphasized the urgency to understand the reasons for this loss of pace and return to their earlier setup to regain competitiveness. Teammate Kimi Antonelli also had a challenging weekend, failing to progress past Q1 in both sprint and grand prix qualifying and finishing 16th.