George Russell admits the Bahrain Grand Prix end result bodes nicely for Mercedes having a aggressive System 1 season, however he nonetheless believes he’s an outsider within the drivers’ championship.
Mercedes has struggled in sizzling circumstances in current seasons, with easy observe surfaces and cooler temperatures offering its best alternatives. Nonetheless, after securing a season’s-best second place in Bahrain — his third podium in 4 races — Russell says it’s a very necessary end result because it reveals the progress with the automobile’s efficiency.
“[It gives] loads of confidence,” Russell mentioned. “This was the actual type of check for us. We knew that our automobile likes the chilly circumstances, and the competitiveness we confirmed in China and Suzuka was no main shock. However this was going to be the query mark and we’ve had one other robust weekend. So it bodes nicely for the season.”
Regardless of the constructive indicators, Russell believes the tempo distinction with McLaren continues to be too large at current to depend himself as a real title contender, regardless of solely being 14 factors adrift of championship chief Lando Norris.
“I’d like to say so, however I don’t suppose we’re, to be sincere. McLaren are simply too dominant proper now,” he admitted. “I believe that is most likely going to be their peak efficiency, what we noticed this week in Bahrain. What we noticed in China and Suzuka was most likely their worst-case situation they usually nonetheless clearly acquired one victory from these two races.
“So we’ve acquired to maintain on choosing up the factors, choosing up the items. And this weekend we picked up the items to get a P2 – and we did it in Melbourne as nicely to get the P3. I don’t anticipate this to proceed for a lot of races to come back, however who is aware of?”
Workforce principal Toto Wolff echoes Russell’s encouragement because of the Bahrain end result — one he known as an “unbelievable” drive from the Briton — and is barely extra optimistic that McLaren may very well be caught.
“We might have anticipated that Bahrain would have been one of many very tough boards for us due to the nice and cozy ambient and the very granular, tough circuit,” Wolff mentioned. “Ultimately, we certified P2 and P4. We had a automobile that was capable of be stable on the rostrum, and that’s higher than we anticipated.
“So, you’ll be able to name a race successful if you happen to win, however within the circumstances, one might say it was a lot better than we anticipated.
“When you have a look at the place McLaren was final yr, I believe they have been fourth and sixth or fifth and sixth, one thing like this. You may see how shortly you’ll be able to flip the tide. In all probability [on Sunday] we have been a number of tenths lacking. Don’t know the way we might have carried out on the medium on the finish.
“However positively we simply must placed on our greatest sport and see the way it goes on the opposite tracks.”
