George Russell concedes McLaren still a step ahead despite improved Mercedes F1 pace

George Russell feels McLaren is still the team to beat in this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix despite his strong performance in practice on Friday.

Mercedes star Russell was able to lap within two tenths of McLaren rival Lando Norris in FP1 on Friday morning, before finishing sixth in a truncated second session in the afternoon.

The Briton’s long runs also caught the attention of his McLaren duo Norris and Oscar Piastri, who identified him as their main threat going into Saturday.

However, Russell doesn’t think Mercedes is now on the same level as its engine customer - and also warned that many other teams could join the fight in qualifying on Saturday.

“The McLarens once more look very strong and when they put a lap together they are a step ahead,” he told F1.com.

“A few other guys [like Isack] Hadjar have been doing a great job. He has been really fast as well, which was quite a surprise.

“We don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. Fernando [Alonso] before he went off [in FP2] was on a really fast lap as well.

“It's a little bit unusual to see so many different teams in the mix, but I'd like to think we will be in the fight for top four positions.”

However, Russell was still upbeat about Mercedes’ prospects for qualifying, having been impressed by the car’s handling in windy conditions at Suzuka.

“[It was a] pretty positive day to be honest,” he explained. “The car has been handling really nicely, I have been really pleased with that. We got to make sure it stays the same for tomorrow.

“The wind is playing a big factor. It's really windy out there and tomorrow the wind is going to shift 180 degrees, so that is going to really change how the car is feeling. But I'm confident we are in the mix for fighting for the front two rows.”

Running in second practice was severely limited due to four separate red flag periods, preventing teams from completing any meaningful long runs.

Nevertheless, Russell managed to do a short stint on the C1 hard tyre, which is likely to be the compound of choice in Sunday’s race.

“Often when you have the hard tyre on, it goes quite a long time,” he explained. “I got four laps on that tyre. On Sunday you would hope to be doing up to 30 odd laps on that tyre.

“It's in the last 10 laps in the race when you really know if the tyre is able to hold on or not. That is going to be the news to everyone on Sunday. “A bit of rain is maybe on the way.

“As I said we are always there or thereabout on the timesheet, which is the most important thing.”

Russell's teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished ninth on Friday morning, but failed to set a representatitive lap in FP2 due to constant stoppages.