George Russell says he would sacrifice pace in 2024 in order to position Mercedes in the best possible way for next season.
Although the Brackley-based team has shown flashes of form this season, inconsistency and puzzling performance fluctuations mean Mercedes is very much now the fourth force in Formula 1 behind McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.
And now, compounding the problem, is that Mercedes has almost completely maxed out its 2024 budget cap. "We’ve had some big crashes in recent weeks," team boss Toto Wolff said in Mexico.
The latest big crash was Russell’s on Friday - just days after another hefty impact for the 26-year-old in Austin. "We are slowly getting into serious trouble," Wolff admitted.
"All the teams are struggling to stay within the budget cap," he added, "but we’ve had some bad ones lately - Kimi (Antonelli) in Monza, George in Texas, now George again here."
Russell had to revert to an older specification floor after Friday’s crash, although he does not sound as concerned about the budget cap situation as his boss.
"There’s no concern about the budget because we always have a little bit of margin and we always evaluate what we put into this season compared to what we will put into the next season," said the British driver.
"But we may have to compromise for the rest of the season, which to be honest I would probably be fine with because we are not fighting for the championship. I would be more than happy to keep the old floor on now if it gives us a better chance for next year," Russell added.
"It should be fine in Brazil."