Timo Glock believes that Lewis Hamilton is receiving preferential treatment at Mercedes, leaving George Russell to fight an uphill battle in a car that does not suit him as much. Hamilton was beaten by his team-mate in last year’s Drivers’ Championship standings but has fared better this time around, having earned 70 more points over the course of the campaign to date.
Mercedes introduced their final upgrade package of the season at last month’s United States Grand Prix, which guided Hamilton to a top-three finish before he was subsequently disqualified for excessive plank wear on his W14. The 38-year-old went on to get on the podium in Mexico a week later before coming home in eighth at the Brazilian Grand Prix last weekend.
Russell has failed to perform at the same level in the three races since the upgrades were brought in, prompting Glock to accuse Mercedes of favouring Hamilton by developing the car to suit him more.
“George struggles a bit more with those new updates since Austin and it seems like it’s favouring a bit more Lewis,” he told RacingNews365. “But on the other side, it was an unlucky season for George. Everything which worked last year seems to not work this year, he has sometimes been in the wrong position.
“It seems like it’s a guess what set up direction he needs to go in and Lewis was experienced with speed on his side being a bit more experienced. Maybe they are finding a better way to set up the car for Lewis which doesn’t look like it’s working out on George’s side.
“I think there is no real sort of mental struggle from George. I think he knows it still is quick and he shows that every time. It’s just a matter of getting the car in the right direction of his liking.”
Mercedes endured one of their worst weekends in recent memory at the Brazilian Grand Prix, with Hamilton slipping from third to eighth and Russell being forced to retire as his power unit neared the point of failure. Glock added that Mercedes will find it difficult to return to their former glories over the coming years as they look to pull themselves out of the struggle and get back to fighting for titles.
“That’s the worst case for the team, that you don’t understand why you are sometimes quick and why you sometimes slow,” explained Glock. “It wasn’t really a bad weekend for them. Even in Mexico on Friday, they struggled a bit to find the right direction and suddenly it clicked, they made the right change, and the car was in the sweet spot.
“Then one week later they come to Brazil and nothing works anymore. So that’s the worst case scenario that you don’t know at the moment why you are quick and why you’re slow.”
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