Mercedes driver is thrilled with FIA’s decision to bring about a change that will ease the porpoising issues that are currently being faced by the team.
FIA published a technical directive following the chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix which had seen Lewis Hamilton walk out of his car clutching his back.
Measures have now been introduced to help teams tackle the porpoising issue and Russell was delighted to see that the sport’s governing body is doing its best to limit injuries.
“It’s promising to see that they’ve made action on this straight away and it’s not taken them weeks and months and political decisions to change something like this,” Russell said.
“When it comes to safety, things need to be resolved ASAP. So I’m pleasantly – not surprised to see it come in so quick – but I think it’s good for everyone.”
Did FIA buckle under Mercedes pressure?
Mercedes isn’t the only team that has suffered drastically as a result of these porpoising issues.
A number of other constructors have also been forced to make alterations to their original designs.
However, with the budget cap now in place, there have not been any wholesale changes.
With pressure mounting from Mercedes for the rules to be changed, Red Bull boss Christian Horner had said that any change in the rules would be “unfair.
“Look, it is uncomfortable but there are remedies to that but it is detrimental to the car performance,” Horner said.
“What is the easiest thing to do? Complain from a safety point of view – but each team has a choice.
“If it was a genuine safety concern across the whole grid then it is something that should be looked at but if it is only affecting isolated people or teams, then that is something that the team should potentially deal with. The easiest thing is obviously to raise the car so a team has a choice to do that.”
Could the rule change harm Mercedes’ chances?
Russell, however, doesn’t believe it is a massive advantage for Mercedes. The young driver, in fact, said that it even has the potential to make things tougher for the Silver Arrows.
“This is something that everyone thinks Mercedes is pushing for,” he said.
“But from a pure performance side of things we don’t really want change because if there’s change you never know if it’s going to go in your favour or against you.
“It’s something that we as drivers have spoken about globally that we want change moving forward because what we went through last weekend just wasn’t sustainable.
“It doesn’t matter what boat you’re in, you’re either porpoising and you’re hitting the ground or you have no porpoising so you’re running the car very close to the ground. Either way you look at it, it’s not great.”
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