Karun Chandhok says there’s an issue in ‘the code’ of George Russell’s engine at Mercedes

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George Russell believes there’s an issue with the performance of his Mercedes power unit compared to Kimi Antonelli.

In an interview after the Belgian Grand Prix, Russell said he wasn’t driving the ‘same car’ as Antonelli, pointing to the straight-line deficit. Mercedes also see it in the telemetry.

Initially, they suspected that this was down to driving styles, with Antonelli’s approach simply better suited to optimising the complex power unit. But after Russell took the corners the same way in qualifying and still lost half a second, they are investigating a potential car problem.

Is George Russell fighting with one hand behind his back, or is Kimi Antonelli just too good?

Antonelli extends his lead in the standings to 44 points after Spa!

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Karun Chandhok says George Russell’s Mercedes problem is ‘buried’ in the algorithm

Russell first reported the discrepancy in Austria, but it wasn’t a major concern because he won the race. His complaints became louder at Silverstone as he lagged behind Antonelli before the Italian’s retirement.

At the start of the race, Toto Wolff said all eight Mercedes-engined cars were affected by a power shortage, but Russell was the biggest victim as he lost three places on the Kemmel Straight before a race-ending collision with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.

Unofficial speed traces show that Russell peaked at 316kph on the run to Les Combes, while the two McLarens hit 337-343kph. Antonelli maxed out at 318kph but still passed Max Verstappen, who had an empty battery.

“It does sound like there’s fundamentally a different issue in terms of the code in George’s car versus Kimi’s car,” Karun Chandhok said on the F1 Show. “That was buried deep somewhere in the software and they didn’t have time to correct it.

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kyle.archer12h

George is clearly seeing that Kimi can seemingly get more out of the Mercedes engine than he can, and yet the team cannot find the reason(s) for why that is the case. But it will not have any repercussions on their relationship. It will only have an impact on Russell, having waited for his chance to win a title for years only to see Antonelli edge ahead.

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“That led to the issue on lap one, which is the trigger for that outburst on the radio.”

Chandhok later added: “From what I can gather, somewhere in the algorithm, he’s had an issue. It’s then manifested itself into a load of problems.”

Some F1 drivers are frustrated by the impact that these ‘algorithms’ are having on their results and have been made to feel powerless.

• READ MORE: Mercedes have an easy way to find out if George Russell is really to blame for Kimi Antonelli gap

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who has been outqualified by teammate Lando Norris at six of the last seven races, says grids are being ‘decided by computers behaving or misbehaving’ (via ESPN).