Jolyon Palmer has outlined what Mercedes star George Russell must improve to start winning races in Formula 1.
The Briton showed a glimpse of his potential pace after achieving his first pole position of the 2024 season at the Canadian Grand Prix, having set an identical time to Max Verstappen while every other driver came close to disaster in the tricky changing conditions.
He fell short of converting his pole into a race win despite showing blistering pace, with a series of errors costing him a chance of challenging Verstappen in the latter stages.
Much of his improvement over the weekend is down to Mercedes recent updates, with the team expected to replicate this performance at the upcoming races. Writing in his column for Formula 1, Palmer believes Russell must improve a key area if he wants to win more races.
Jolyon Palmer highlights the key area George Russell must improve
After the race in Canada, both Mercedes drivers admitted they did not do a good enough job to maximise their points haul from their qualifying positions. Team principal, Toto Wolff, also expressed how the team left the race with a ‘negative’ feeling.
Russell has won races before in inferior machinery compared to his competitors with his victory at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix, but has often been guily of a lot of unforced errors.
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Whereas his teammate Lewis Hamilton has been outstanding at managing his tyres during a race stint, Russell has often failed to replicate this leading to more pressure at key moments.
He crashed while chasing Fernando Alonso on the final lap of the Australian Grand Prix, having also done exactly the same at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix when he was in contention to win following a late pit stop.
Jolyon Palmer outlines key George Russell trait
Palmer, who raced in F1 between 2016 and 2017 with Renault, believes Russell must improve this important area if he wants to convert his blistering qualifying pace into race wins and avoid unnecessary battles.
“Russell was very critical of himself for slipping back in a race where he had a victory shot had things gone smoothly,” said Palmer.
“Personally, I think Russell was slightly over-critical in his self-reflection on Sunday. He had a strong weekend and still managed to get his team back to the podium and showed they could fight once more with proven race winners in 2024, but the reality is that a series of small errors cost him valuable positions.
“All of the moments were so minor in isolation – and even Verstappen went grasstracking in a more dramatic way during the race and got away with it – but as a cumulative, it all compounded to drop George back into battles that he needn’t have been facing.
“Mercedes have more upgrades coming to Barcelona though, and it’s a track that they’ve always shone at, so I’m expecting both drivers to be in with a chance once again. With a little more composure from George or more qualifying pace from Lewis, that first win of 2024 could be within reach for either of them.”
Russell has out-qualified Hamilton in eight of the last nine Grands Prix, with the seven-time world champion saying he did not expect to out-qualify him for the rest of the season when speaking to Sky Sports in Monaco.
Hamilton currently trails Russell by 14 points in the Drivers’ Championship, but if the latest car updates do make the W15 easier to drive it is expected that deficit between the teammates will reduce as the season continues.
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