Mark Hughes: Barcelona offers Russell the reset he desperately needs

A couple of interesting potential resets are going into Barcelona after difficult Monaco weekends for George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

As recounted in Wednesday’s column, Russell was struggling last weekend to generate the necessary front tyre and brake temperatures by the start of his flying lap in qualifying, even with the extra preparation lap everyone was obliged to do. The fact that the extra prep lap (so an out-lap then another complete lap and only then the flying, attack lap) was universal tells you that the tyres were indeed marginal in reaching their operating temperature threshold.

In such conditions, previous Mercedes cars of recent history got to that temperature more easily than others but at the expense of encountering overheating fronts earlier than the others. This year’s W17 is not like that at all. At low-energy tracks or in conditions of low grip it struggles more than the McLaren and Red Bull to reach that threshold, requires more work from the driver in loading up the carcass, so that the tread is then supported, everything comes into equilibrium and the whole process of grip is initiated.

Russell is not inherently poor at switching on a reluctant front tyre. It isn’t something he has ever struggled with. But he does need an aggressively grippy front end to really perform at his best, something which gives him the confidence early in the corner to commit fully. So if, as at Monaco, he hasn’t been able to get to that temperature threshold by the beginning of the lap, he’s going to lack confidence – and that is something which the Monaco track punishes with a big penalty in lap time. It’s self-sustaining. The less confidence, the less you are able to work the tyre, the less confidence the tyre is giving you, etc.

In Q3, he did eventually get the tyre working by the start of the lap and was quicker than team-mate Kimi Antonelli through Ste Devote, but having had less time in balancing the tyre usage between the beginning of the lap and the end, he’d overheated the rears by Sector 3 and suffered in the traction zones there.

Barcelona’s tyre demands are nothing like that. It’s a high-energy workout for the rubber, lots of long, medium and fast corners. Furthermore, its generous run-offs allow a driver to push through any lack of confidence in a way that would be unfeasible at Monaco. So everything should be in place to allow Russell a clean run at re-establishing his confidence. He is not inherently 0.4sec off Antonelli (the gap at Monaco and the other low-grip track of Miami). Away from the low-grip surfaces, where the W17’s more balanced tyre usage can initially make it tricky, his one-lap pace is on a par.

But psychologically, this is an incredibly tough time for him, the equivalent of a top tennis player five games down to a shining new star. Having the mental strength to come back from such situations is one of the assets any top sportsman needs. We’ve now got a run of high-energy circuits which offer him a good opportunity to re-establish that confidence and in the meantime work behind the scenes in understanding what it is he needs to better get the tyre working earlier when the input energy is low.

Leclerc’s difficulties in Montreal were quite similar to those of Russell in Monaco in that he could not get the front tyres into their working window. But in both Canada and Monaco, this was exacerbated by his lack of feel through the brake pedal. This generation of car, with such a heavy reverse-torque braking effect on the rear axle and the potential sudden release of that torque effectively switching the brake balance forwards onto front discs, which have cooled (because the rears have been doing so much of the work up to that point), means drivers are relying more than ever on the sensations coming through the left pedal.

This and the smaller wheels being used this year have completely reset the parameters for the brake manufacturers. That has upset the delicate balance between performance and driver feel, and this has impacted more on some drivers than others, depending upon the traits of both the car and their natural driving style.

So while a frustrated Leclerc was talking after the race in Monaco that he was going to follow team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s direction in moving from Brembo discs to those from Carbone Industrie this weekend, that won’t necessarily be the magic switch he’s looking for. It’s all about the very intricate way a driver’s sensations marry up to what the car is doing beneath him. Just as with tyres, the brakes need a certain threshold temperature before they work properly and if they’re not there at all four corners, you’re going to lock a wheel and have moments.

There is no one solution that fits all and it isn’t necessarily a case of Carbon Industrie discs being ‘better’ than Brembos. Early-season 2024, one of the significant improvements in feel for the front end of the Red Bull that Max Verstappen made was a switch from Carbone Industrie discs to Brembo – i.e., the other way around to Hamilton’s recent switch.

So while Leclerc may indeed try the CI discs this weekend, the different demands of Barcelona may mean the Brembos work perfectly well for him. The grid is quite evenly split in which discs the drivers and teams prefer. Furthermore, even if Leclerc does opt for the CIs this weekend, Brembo will remain Ferrari’s partner and is still pushing on with developments.

As ever, F1 does not lend itself well to simplistic explanations.

Post your questions to Mark below.

Can’t see the form? Click here

Click to read more from Mark Hughes and don’t miss an episode by subscribing on your favourite platform or YouTube, where a video version accompanies the audio podcast.