George Russell has provided an update on how long Mercedes expect to continue to struggle with the problems facing their W13 car. The British driver, who placed fourth at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, arrives in Saudi Arabia hoping that his ride around Jeddah's Corniche Circuit will prove less bouncy and considerably faster than what he experienced last time out. Mercedes have struggled with porpoising so far this campaign - especially in Bahrain - with the team having to make performance sacrifices in order to reduce its effects. That has left them noticeably slower than both Ferrari and Red Bull and they had to rely on retirements for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to help Lewis Hamilton snatch a late podium on race day. The result was a case of damage limitation for the team, but with the season now in full swing, the race is on for Mercedes to turn competitive.
Russell: It's promising to see others solve it
Hamilton has said that it could take up to four races for Mercedes to get on top of their problems, but Russell is hopeful that the cure could arrive at any moment, even if he is yet to be convinced that his W13 will be competitive in Jeddah. "We might just try one thing and it works," said Russell, speaking to select members of the media, including RacingsNews365.com . "It is promising to see that other cars did have issues and they have managed to solve it, so there is a solution there somewhere, but we are struggling to find that at the moment. "We're just going about our business analytically. We're not doing anything too crazy, because we don't want to confuse ourselves. "Time is limited at the moment. It would have been brilliant if we managed to solve it during testing, when we had so much running. "I truly couldn't tell you [how long it will take]. We hope as soon as possible, but there's no reason why it may not continue the whole year. Who knows?"
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