“Encouraging to see Lewis (Hamilton) at top of the timesheets,” George Russell delighted after Mercedes’ stellar start to Spanish GP weekend
George Russell was delighted with Mercedes’ strong outing on the first day of the Spanish GP. Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the second practice session on Friday, as he finished ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. The Briton stated that the car was finally feeling great, and Mercedes could indeed have a great weekend in Barcelona.
His sentiments were echoed by his teammate George Russell, who was delighted to see the seven-time world champion set the pace in FP2. The young British driver claimed the first podium finish for Mercedes this season, as he finished P3 in Canada a couple of weeks ago.
There has been a marked improvement in terms of car performance for both Mercedes drivers. George Russell believes that their single lap pace was pretty strong as compared to their competitors, however, they will have to work on their race pace.
“We had a good day on track today. The car was performing really well around this circuit. It was encouraging to see Lewis top of the timesheets and we were consistently at the front,” said Russell to reporters after FP2.
“Our long run pace in FP1 was competitive. In FP2, it seemed that our single lap pace was slightly stronger than our long run speed but overall, the car is feeling strong,” Russell added.
George Russell remains optimistic yet cautious ahead of Saturday’s qualifying
George Russell remained cautious as he did not want the team to get ahead of themselves just before Saturday’s qualifying session. Mercedes had a stellar weekend in Canada, as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished P3 and P4, respectively. This was their largest haul of points in a single race this season.
“It is only Friday, but it has been a while since we’ve been consistently at the upper end of the field. I’m feeling good and excited as this is what we’ve been chasing for a while,” Russell added.
“We won’t get ahead of ourselves, though, and will work diligently tonight and tomorrow to prepare as best as we can for qualifying and Sunday’s grand prix.”
Mercedes have brought in a bunch of upgrades in Monaco and Montreal. Both of the upgrades have worked well for the Silver Arrows so far. Mercedes trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin also remained optimistic for the rest of the weekend, stating that the car looks in really good shape to compete with the likes of Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren.
“We made a step forward with the updates we brought to Monaco and Montreal, but it’s been encouraging to see that the car is working well around a track with plenty of high-speed corners. Our single lap pace looks competitive and quite close with several other teams,” Shovlin added.
