Will Mercedes resort to 'high-risk, high-reward' F1 towing tactics?

George Russell does not think Mercedes will resort to deploying towing tactics during F1 qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix to overcome their straightline speed deficit. 
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W13
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W13

Russell ended Friday Practice fifth-fastest and 0.722s off the pace of Carlos Sainz’s benchmark time in FP2, while Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was seventh, a further tenth behind. 

Both Mercedes drivers were heard complaining about deployment issues on their cars during second practice. 

Remote video URL

“Deployment is a bit all over the place at the moment,” reported Russell. 

Russell’s race engineer Riccardo Musconi responded by telling him it was a problem affecting both W13s. 

Mercedes have been struggling to match the top speed of rivals Ferrari and Red Bull so far this weekend around the power-hungry Monza circuit. 

“It was a blip during the session, which made things worse,” Russell explained. “But generally speaking, we’re lacking a bit of deployment. 

“I think we’re similar to Red Bull, but Ferrari seem to have the upper hand. So that may make things tricky in a race scenario as they have a bit more of a locker to play with. It’s going to be something we’ll have to deal with.” 

George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W13. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 16, Italian Grand Prix, Monza, Italy, Practice
George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W13. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd…

When asked if Mercedes could use Hamilton - who will drop towards the back of the grid after being hit with a penalty for using too many engine parts - to give Russell a tow, the young Briton downplayed the prospect. 

“If you nail it, it definitely does work,” said Russell. “But it’s a high-risk, high-reward really. So it’s not something we’re putting a lot of emphasis into. 

“Qualifying sessions are the time where we learn quite a lot about the car and the tyres, and that’s clearly been somewhere we’ve struggled this year. So for now we’ll both go in and do an ordinary session.” 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton said: "It’s George’s turn to choose whether to go first or second so most likely he’ll choose to go behind me, I’ll just do my normal programme and he’ll get a tow.”

Read More