Mercedes arrived in Las Vegas as one of the major favorites after its dominant victory in 2024, but the performance levels on track look noticeably different compared to twelve months ago. George Russell has been quick to point that out. Meanwhile, Andrea Kimi Antonelli is satisfied with his progress, although he acknowledges he still needs to work on adapting the car to a track where grip changes from session to session.
Mercedes had been widely tipped as the leading contender for victory in Las Vegas, especially after last season’s stunning weekend, where the team controlled the Nevada street circuit from start to finish.
However, after the first two free-practice sessions, George Russell preferred to keep expectations in check. In FP1, Mercedes followed a different programme than most of their rivals, starting on the Soft tyres before switching to the Mediums. This approach prevented the Silver Arrows from setting particularly representative lap times.
Things improved in the second practice session, but the British driver still believes that this year’s scenario is very different. The W16 is certainly a better car overall than last year’s machine, performing more consistently on every type of circuit. But the changes made to the car may mean Mercedes is no longer the clear favourite in Las Vegas.
“It wasn’t a bad day today, I believe we are among the strongest. But I think we need to be realistic. There were a lot of expectations around us this weekend, but we changed the car a lot compared to last year. And it has been a much better car than the one we had last season, we’ve seen that all year,” Russell said.
“But maybe that doesn’t make us as competitive here as we were twelve months ago. Still, we are among the top teams. Lando was quick. Max and Leclerc were as well. Kimi looked strong. I think it’s going to be a fight where we are all very close.”
“We didn’t set exceptional lap times today. We need to stay realistic. We are more or less on the level of the strongest teams, but it certainly won’t be an easy weekend.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, on the other hand, completed the second free-practice session in second place, although it is worth remembering that the numerous interruptions during the second half of FP2 prevented many drivers from improving their benchmark laps.
The Bologna-born driver focused mainly on the massive track evolution. The session began on a very dirty surface covered with sand, but the grip increased lap after lap. For this reason, Mercedes will need to stay sharp with car setup changes to follow the track’s rapidly rising grip level.
“It was a good day. I learned the track lap after lap and I felt comfortable in the car. Obviously there is work to do, but it was a positive start to the weekend,” Kimi Antonelli said.
“The first free practice session was quite shocking, especially in the opening laps. But the track evolution was incredible. And in FP2 the grip was much higher. I expect the same situation tomorrow. We will need to adapt the car to the evolving track conditions.”
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