George Russell had to give up his car to Mercedes third driver Frederik Vesti for the first free practice session of the F1 Bahrain GP. Russell therefore only took part in the second part of the day, still managing to show strong performance. The British driver finished third with a time of 1:31.032. His teammate Kimi Antonelli posted a 1:31.227, placing him fifth.
Russell confident he has a strong advantage in Bahrain compared to others
At the end of free practice, Russell spoke about how his Mercedes F1 car is behaving in Bahrain:
“We expected McLaren to be a step ahead here and we saw that today. We have a good advantage in the middle sector, where tyres overheat, so we know there’s some work to do, but I think we’re capable of fighting for the top positions. I think the Ferraris were on track for a good lap, I believe they had a bit of a poor final sector, but I think it’s going to be a tight battle between us, Ferrari and Max, although honestly you never know what might happen. I’m absolutely convinced that, unlike the last three races, this one won’t be decided in qualifying, but in race pace and tyre degradation. So of course we want a good qualifying, but it’s in the race where we’ll give everything.”
Telemetry doesn’t lie: Mercedes struggling in the second part of the Bahrain circuit
Comparing the best laps of George Russell and Oscar Piastri reveals small differences across most of the track. What stands out immediately, however, is Russell’s major difficulty in Turn 7. Oscar Piastri manages to go through it with just a slight lift off the throttle, whereas George lifts by about 40%, like other drivers as well. This move causes Russell to lose around 15 km/h in top speed on corner exit. In the first sector, Russell is actually 0.2s quicker than both McLarens, but loses that time across the rest of the lap. The same pattern repeats at Turn 10, with George using third gear, unlike the second gear used by the two “papaya” drivers, costing him about a tenth and a half. Mercedes therefore has great potential especially in the first part of the track, but still needs slight improvements in the second part to match McLaren’s level. As Russell also said, though, the race will come down to tyre management, and McLaren could suffer if they adopt an overly aggressive driving style.
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