George Russell: Mercedes ‘can’t fight’ Max Verstappen despite 1-2 in Bahrain F1 practice

George Russell doesn't think Mercedes are capable 𒉰of challenging Red Bull despite showing strong pace in Bahrain practice.

George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 1, Bahrain Grand Prix, Sakhir, Bahrain, Practice
George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 1, Bahrain Grand Prix,…

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:George Russell disagrees with the notion that ‘Mercedes are back’ in terms of fighting for wins and championships despite a strong showing in F1 practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Mercedes ended second practice on Thursday at top of the timesheets with 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton ahead of Russell.

It was an impr𝐆essive showing from Mercedes, which left Bahrain 12 months ago with the fourth-fastest car.

However, it did appear that 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen had the advantage during the race simulations 🦂in the latter half of FP2ꦉ.

Russell was quick to play Me♛rcedes’ form down with a clear deficit to Verstappen still appꦐarent on heavy fuel.

“We need to sit down and understand where this increase in performance came from. Is it a one off? Can we sustain this? What we need to do to fight for a serious position on Sund🎉ay,” he said.

“As I said, our aim is to try and focus and fight for victory. After testing, Max looked a long way out in front but now that gap has reduced🐼. He’s still out in front. I think he’s still got a healthy margin to the others rather than just a ridiculous margin.

“By no means does this mean w♓e’re back or we can fight with them just yet but as I said it's a really solid day.”

George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W15. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 1, Bahrain Grand Prix, Sakhir, Bahrain,
George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W15. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 1, Bahrain Grand…

Russell conceded Mercedes🎀 didn’t know why their qualifying pace “looked really strong” after making some changes to the car setup following pre-season testing.

“We’re not goi൲ng to get carried away with ourselves,” he added. “The qualifying pace looked really strong. We still need to try and understand why it was so good. We made some changes from the test and it exceeded our expectations but ultimately the long run pace, which is where it all happens, Max was still ahead of us.

“It was very close with Fernando, Lan🍃do and the Ferraris, and Lewis and I were v🥀ery similar. We’ve got a real fight on our hands in race pace.

“As I said, we’re really pleased with the day.ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ The car is performing really well but we’re not getting carried away.”

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