Russell has 'no explanation' over return of former Mercedes problem

George Russell admits that Mercedes can not yet explain why the issue of bouncing seems to have returned to their car at the Miami Grand Prix.

After some promising form in Free Practice 1, the team have found themselves slipping backwards as the weekend has progressed, resulting in a challenging qualifying session for both Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton was unable to make it out of Q2 and will line up in P13 for the race, while Russell secured P6, with the session brought to an early end following a crash for Charles Leclerc.

Russell: We need to do a better job

Speaking after qualifying, Russell reflected on the reasons behind Mercedes' struggles.

"We’re struggling a lot with the balance [of the car] and it’s bouncing around a little bit, which I guess a lot of teams thought was a thing of the past but is seemingly apparent for a number of cars," the Briton told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"The performance isn't coming to us. It's a real shame, everybody's working so hard to achieve it. But, clearly, this is a little bit of an outlier circuit when we see the pace of some of the other cars."

When asked if there was any explanation for the issues with bouncing, Russell responded: "There [are] a few theories, no explanations.

"It does seem a little bit apparent to this Miami surface, maybe because the track's so smooth, I don't know. But. ultimately, we need to do a better job."

Mercedes going 'slower and slower' during weekend

While the Silver Arrows topped the timesheets in Friday's FP1 session, Russell says that their issues became clear during Free Practice 2.

"We don't know what's going on with this track for us," the Mercedes driver said.

"The car was feeling good in FP1, but as the grip got laid down and the track improved, we seemingly just went slower and slower.

"Everybody's working so hard to turn this around, we've yet to bring any major upgrades to the car.

"We know we've got a hell of a challenge on our hands, but everybody's working their asses off to achieve it.

"It's a bit of a unique one. It's a bit of an outlier, this circuit."