Russell finished sixth fastest after completing 66 laps in the afternoon session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Thursday.
Follow Us
According to George Russell, Ferrari and McLaren have looked quite competitive so far in Formula One pre-season testing, with Mercedes falling behind them at the moment. Russell finished sixth fastest after completing 66 laps in the afternoon session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Thursday after taking over from Lewis Hamilton during the lunch break. After finishing second yesterday behind McLaren’s Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc managed to set the pace for Ferrari ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo.
Russell, Mercedes’ new addition for the upcoming season, said that pre-season testing in the new cars was something that intrigued him as he got used to the dynamics of the new Mercedes W13. “We’re seeing some interesting things out there, that’s what testing is for,” Russell said.
Read More – Car feels ‘a bit more sluggish’, says McLaren’s Lando Norris after Barcelona testing
“Some teams are looking pretty fast. A red team and an orange team in particular look very, very competitive. So let’s see what tomorrow brings and what we can do between this test and Bahrain,” he added.
Despite feeling that his team was behind Ferrari and McLaren at the moment, the young Brit said that Mercedes had things under control. “They seem to have things well under control and they look very strong, low fuel and high fuel, and with the tyre management,” he said.
“Who knows? We all know that we’re on different programmes, but we definitely know from the average of all of the different runs, we’re behind them at the moment. Let’s wait and see. The championship is not won in Barcelona in winter testing. But it’s certainly been an intriguing two days so far,” Russell concluded.
Read More – George Russell can beat Lewis Hamilton from the start: Ralf Schumacher
Russell’s best laptime of 1m20.537s was more than eight tenths slower than Leclerc’s in the Ferrari, but teams are still learning their new cars and aren’t chasing outright performance. Ferrari has completed more laps in testing than any other team, totaling 303 between Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz over the first two days. Mercedes, on the other hand, has 233, four more than McLaren.
The young Brit is supposed to complete a final half-day of testing in Barcelona on Friday, sharing duties behind the wheel of the Mercedes W13 with Hamilton once more. The next chance to drive the car will be at the second pre-season test on March 10-12 in Bahrain, which will also host the first race of the season on March 20.
