George Russell says Mercedes have regressed in Bahrain testing despite strong lap times, identifying Red Bull as the clear team to beat ahead of the new F1 season.
SAKHIR: George Russell delivered the second-fastest time in Friday’s pre-season testing, trailing only his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Despite the strong showing, the British driver insisted the team had “taken a step back” since their smooth running in Barcelona last month.
“Barcelona was very smooth, and probably smoother than we actually anticipated, in terms of reliability, in terms of performance,” Russell said after the session.
“We’ve got to Bahrain and in both regards we’ve taken a step back.”
The 27-year-old shifted focus to reigning champions Red Bull, calling them the benchmark.
“I do think this test has been a bit of a reality check for all of us,” he stated.
“The truth is, Red Bull in Barcelona, day one, hit the ground running, were well ahead of all of their competitors.”
Red Bull’s new recruit Isack Hadjar offered a more optimistic view from the champion camp.
The 21-year-old described his team’s progress as “better than we hoped for”, particularly praising the new power unit.
“The power unit seems so far reliable, powerful, so I’m very happy so far,” Hadjar said.
His comments contrasted with those of Red Bull’s star Max Verstappen, who a day earlier criticised the new technical regulations.
Verstappen said the rule changes, which prompted a complete chassis and engine overhaul, made the cars feel like “Formula E on steroids”.
Lewis Hamilton was third fastest for Ferrari before stopping on track near the day’s end.
The new Cadillac team also faced reliability issues, with Valtteri Bottas causing the first red flag of the day.
Adrian Newey’s new Aston Martin design struggled throughout testing, completing only 206 laps over three days.
“We’re still learning the car, the engine, but we have a lot of work to do, and catching up to do,” said driver Lance Stroll.
“Right now, we look like we’re four seconds off the top teams, four-and-a-half seconds.”
Pre-season testing resumes in Bahrain on Wednesday.
The Sun Malaysia
