Shovlin: Thanks to Russell, the work on the chassis is going well.

      With Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari, his 11‑year spell at Mercedes came to an end, and it was the most successful driver‑team partnership in Formula 1 history: together they claimed 84 wins and won six championship titles.

      All those years Lewis took a very active part in refining Mercedes' cars, but now that work has largely been taken on by the team's new leader, George Russell, since Kimi Antonelli, who only made his championship debut this past year, does not yet have the necessary experience.

      According to Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' chief race engineer, Russell is coping well, so Hamilton's departure has not affected these crucial processes in terms of work on the car.

      "To be honest, the work with George is going quite well," RacingNews365 quotes Shovlin as saying. "I think the important point is that in the process of creating the car we don't focus solely on what any particular driver tells us.

      "Mainly the direction of development is set by the results from the simulator: we look for opportunities to increase downforce, seek ways to achieve certain balance parameters that affect lap time, try to reduce aerodynamic drag, and also tweak suspension characteristics with a view to improving aerodynamic efficiency.

      "In general, in most cases we don't follow a driver's preferences, but it helps us a lot that in George, who is driving the car, we have a consistent source of information. He knows these cars because he has been working with them throughout the period when the 2022 regulations were in effect in Formula 1, and we've never had cause to worry that we might get off track in terms of fine‑tuning the machinery.

      "But Kimi also judges the car's behaviour very accurately, so there are no areas we need to work on separately. We've always regarded him as a promising driver, and it was clear that his debut season would be a period of intensive learning. We were fully focused on that, so, overall, the situation is well balanced, and everything is going well."