Lewis Hamilton and George Russell facing ‘extremely challenging’ issue at Mercedes

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Mercedes have endured a mixed season throughout the 2024 Formula 1 campaign, suffering from inconsistency and a lack of raw speed.

The German team sit fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, 146 points behind Red Bull in third place as the top three teams battle for the title.

Mercedes enjoyed a superb purple patch before the summer break, winning three of the final four races before the mid-season shutdown.

After Lando Norris and Max Verstappen collided in Austria, they took a fortunate win through George Russell. The Silver Arrows then enjoyed back-to-back wins at the British Grand Prix and in Belgium.

Lewis Hamilton and Russell were consistent frontrunners before the summer break, taking podiums from the final six races and a front-row lockout at the Belgian Grand Prix.

But after a successful run earlier in the season, Mercedes have suffered a dip in form – scoring just one fortunate third place in Azerbaijan since the break.

Mercedes development driver Esteban Gutierrez has now explained to the F1 Nation podcast the key reasons why the team have lacked pace and why their car is tricky to drive.

Esteban Gutierrez feels Mercedes’ car is ‘extremely challenging’ due to a ‘different environment’ between tracks

Mercedes started the season slowly, battling with Aston Martin in Saudi Arabia before building momentum at the Canadian Grand Prix where they finished in third and fourth.

They also later suffered a particularly difficult weekend at the United States Grand Prix as Russell crashed in qualifying before Hamilton also spun at Turn 19 in the race.

Having a car that is compliant on a multitude of different tracks is vital to challenge for the championship. Being competitive across different downforce levels is very important and is something Mercedes have struggled with.

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Gutierrez explained that the car can be a challenge to drive, particularly at the Mexico City Grand Prix as the high altitude can present unique issues for the brakes and cooling.

He explained: “It’s extremely challenging. Obviously, when you come from Austin, that is a completely different track, a very different environment.

“The altitude is very different. Obviously, whatever you do in Austin doesn’t necessarily work in Mexico. There’s a big shift there, and the engineers worked really hard. I think the team found a good way to go forward from a very tricky weekend in Austin.”

Qualifying has been particularly difficult for Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes have had a difficult season despite the highs over the summer. Qualifying has been a particular problem for Hamilton, who is leaving to join Ferrari next season.

The British driver has now been out-qualified by his teammate Russell 15 times this year, as Hamilton struggles to maximise his potential over a single lap.

The issues on Saturdays in qualifying have been very small, but they often see Hamilton behind his teammate and a long way off pole position.

His move to Ferrari may be just the lift the 39-year-old needs to re-energise his career after a tough three-year stint ending his time at Mercedes.