F1: We did not expect to be that far behind the leader

George Russell did not have the easiest day at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix as he came across the line for an eighth-placed finish.

Talking to the media after the race, George Russell stated that he did not expect the team to struggle this much as compared to the leaders, well, especially Verstappen who was so far ahead of everyone in what amounted to a 40-minute race.

The two Mercedes drivers finished over 40 seconds behind Verstappen, but 13+ seconds behind 2nd place Sergio Perez in 26 green-flag racing laps.

Verstappen is so superior to all the other drivers on the F1 grid today, he’s on another planet.

On another planet. Verstappen takes the outside line to grab the lead from Leclerc on the first race start. Leclerc had enjoyed the superior launch, despite the limited grip, to draw alongside polesitter Verstappen and the Ferrari even pulled ahead by half a car length. However, the Dutchman kept his right-foot in it through the first corner to hold the line and decisively retake first place. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

The Mercedes team has a problem – their deficit to the leading cars, and, in addition, they do not have a driver who can match the speed and skill of one just turned 25-year old driver, Max Verstappen.

“We’ve known this year we’ve not had the most efficient car, very draggy, and this is the first high downforce circuit where you have long straights as well. Normally, when you look at high downforce circuits, the straights are relatively small and there’s not that chance to get those straight-line deltas as well. I think we’re probably losing seven or eight-tenths to Red Bull in the straights today, and the circuit has exposed that weakness of ours.

“We definitely didn’t expect it to be in the fight for pole. I think we’ve learned that by now, we need specific circuits to be in the fight for pole position. But certainly, we didn’t expect to be that far behind the leader and that far behind the Alpines. But it’s not the first time this season. There’s quite a theme that we have difficult Saturdays.

“We need to review and see what we could have done better today. I think we had a stronger car than the result reflects, and that we could have been P6 today. I think that stacking in the pit lane cost me positions, and that made it a frustrating afternoon, so we need to look at it and see what the other options were. I made some good overtakes after that – but it was a case of trying to recover what we had lost.”