Andrea Stella thinks he knows what’s going on at Mercedes after George Russell power complaints

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Andrea Stella has shared his theory behind the straight-line speed difference between the Mercedes drivers after looking at the data.

Both Russell and Mercedes are perplexed after seeing car #63 lose time on the straights compared to teammate Kimi Antonelli.

The gap between the two in Belgian Grand Prix qualifying was over half a second, with Antonelli on pole and Russell fourth (though this will become third due to Lando Norris’ penalty).

Andrea Stella sees ‘minor deviation’ in Mercedes drivers’ use of power unit

Privately, Mercedes had dismissed Russell’s complaints at the British GP. Team principal Toto Wolff effectively shut them down on the radio after the race.

They couldn’t find anything in the data to support his claims, so they assumed that he was making excuses. Antonelli’s driving style simply appeared to be extracting more performance from the complex power unit.

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F1 journalist Mark Hughes points out that Russell is using significantly more throttle than Antonelli at the start of the middle sector, which is costing him later in the lap.

But Mercedes have changed their tune. After Russell drove exactly as instructed in Q3 and still lagged behind on the straights, they say he’s not at fault for the deficit, but they don’t know what’s behind it.

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella might have the answer. He can see a ‘minor deviation’ in how the two drivers operate the power unit, with significant consequences.

For the same reason, Oscar Piastri is struggling compared to Lando Norris. Piastri was only two-tenths slower than Norris in Q3 (compared to the 0.5s between Russell and Antonelli) but has now trailed his teammate in five consecutive qualifying sessions.

• READ MORE: Karun Chandhok saw George Russell lack Kimi Antonelli’s ‘confidence’ in sobering Belgian GP display

“If I compare Lando and Oscar in their best lap in Q3, Oscar is losing time in the final straight and Blanchimont for reasons that have nothing to do with Oscar’s driving,” Stella explained, via BBC Sport.

“They are just a minor deviation in how the power unit was operated. And I think this seems to be pretty much the same across the two Mercedes cars. When you overlay Antonelli and Russell, it looks like Lando and Oscar.”