Mercedes can be “next best” to McLaren in Bahrain GP, reckons George Russell
After being largely anonymous at Suzuka, Mercedes looks a lot more competitive in Bahrain.
George Russell believes Mercedes has the potential to become the “next best” team to the dominant McLaren in this week’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Russell set the third-quickest time in second practice on Friday, just behind McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
That was despite the 27-year-old missing the opening session at the Bahrain International Circuit, as Mercedes gave reserve driver Frederik Vesti an opportunity to drive the W16 on a grand prix weekend.
While Russell is concerned about the gap to McLaren, which stood at half a second in FP2, he thinks it might be possible for Mercedes to edge out Ferrari and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the fight for best-of-the-rest at Sakhir.
The Briton was 0.013s faster than Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc on Friday, while his buffer to Verstappen in seventh place was more than three-tenths.
"We expected McLaren to be a step ahead here and we saw that today," said the three-time grand prix winner. "Long way ahead in the middle sector where tyres are overheating so we know we’ve got a bit of work to do but I think we’re in a position fighting for the next best.
"I think the Ferraris were on course for a pretty good lap, I think they had a bit of a bad last sector but I think it’s going to be close between ourselves, Ferrari and Max [Verstappen] but we just never know to be honest.
"I definitely feel, unlike the last three races, this won’t be dominated by Qualifying, this weekend is going to be dominated by race pace, tyre [degradation]. So of course you want to have a good Qualifying but the race is where the action will be."
Technical gremlins for Antonelli
Mercedes started the Bahrain weekend on the back foot, as not only Russell had to vacate his car to Vesti in FP1 but rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli was also restricted to the garage for most of the session due to a technical issue.
The Italian was able to log just three laps on Friday morning but bounced back from the disappointment to finish fifth in FP2, two spots ahead of Verstappen.
Like Russell, Antonelli also expressed confidence in Mercedes’ ability to challenge Ferrari and Red Bull this weekend.
“FP1 was obviously quite short,” he said. “Unfortunately, I had a water leak on the car, so I had to stop and couldn’t drive for the rest of the session. That was a shame because you don’t want to miss out on laps.
“FP2 was quite positive though. The single lap was quite good, even though I made a big mistake in sector one, and overall I felt pretty good in the car.
“The long run was quite tricky – completely different to what we had in testing, so I had to adapt, but overall, despite the issue in FP1, it was a positive day.
“Being at a track that I know definitely helped get me up to speed more quickly today. I felt straightaway in FP2 that I had confidence with the car and despite the track being different to when I’ve driven here previously, I had the confidence to be able to push.
“McLaren still seem to be the favourite but I think we should be fighting for the top five in tomorrow’s Qualifying. We can definitely take the fight to the Red Bulls and Ferrari, but let’s wait and see what Saturday brings."
