Mercedes F1 team discuss FIA compliance after George Russell question raised

George Russell asked his team a question in a recent video that led to discussions surrounding the FIA compliance of Mercedes F1 cars during race weekends.

Russell is heading into the 2025 season in more of a team leadership role, acting as a mentor for new team-mate Kimi Antonelli after seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton decided to ditch the team for Ferrari.

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The Brit is in his fourth year with the Brackley outfit, but is currently due to be out of contract at the end of 2025.

Russell is also the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), and has regular correspondence with the FIA over certain issues, even leading a joint-statement from drivers during 2024 about the FIA's rhetoric over driver swearing.

Russell's FIA curiosity

Russell has now been learning more about FIA compliance during race weekends in a recent discussion with his team.

The 27-year-old is hoping to become a regular race winner in 2025 having already achieved three career race victories.

Russell crossed the line first at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, but his win was taken off him and instead handed to former team-mate Hamilton, after Russell was disqualified by the FIA post-race for his car being underweight.

In a recent YouTube video on the official Petronas Motorsports channel, Russell asked two team members: "Can you take the viewers through what an average race day would look like?"

Petronas trackside fluid engineer Emil Bernstein responded: "I would say there's two types of days that we go through, the first being a setup day where we're taking samples of our fresh fuels and oils and basically making sure that everything is FIA compliant, and the specifications that the team wants for that.

"Whereas a race day like a Friday or Saturday, I definitely would say a lot more fast-paced, before and after the sessions we collect samples of lubricants from the cars which is a blood test for the car to point out its condition."

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