George Russell does not think that Red Bull and Ferrari have an exceptional pace after the pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the fastest lap on the final day of the pre-season testing in Bahrain. Meanwhile, Ferrari has been performing well throughout the three-day testing period. However, Mercedes’ George Russell does not believe that Red Bull and Ferrari have an exceptional pace.
Mercedes’ W13 has been facing a lot of problems with its car and one of the main is the trouble with porpoising. The Brackley-based team has been lagging behind a lot and have not been able to produce satisfactory numbers in the pre-season testing.
While like every other year Mercedes is claiming to have a major difficulty with the development of the car, Russell believes that fixes would put his new team right in the mix.
Speaking about Red Bull and Ferrari, Russell said, “I don’t think they’re exceptional, I think we’re probably not as competitive as we’d like to be honest.”
“The Ferrari and Red Bull are in a natural position and we’re a step… their delta from the front to the midfield and to the back is probably correct. We’re just a little further behind than we’d like.
“I believe the guys are going to get to the bottom of it, I think there is potential there, but we just need to figure a way to unlock that performance.”
Also Read: Lewis Hamilton explains why Mercedes will take 4 races to tame
George Russell does not feel the comfiest in his new car
Mercedes has so far not been able to find a solution to their problem but definitely, that does not mean that they won’t be able to. Russell said that the team is working very hard towards it and he believes that the solution is right there, the team just needs to find it.
He said, “I think it just depends how hard you’re pushing the car really. We’re trying to get every last bit of performance out of it and just trying to test those limits. But it’s definitely bouncing around from within.”
Testing complete. Lots to analyse before the first race but the team are ready for the fight. Let’s go. 👊 pic.twitter.com/WAIbR7ZeU9
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) March 13, 2022
“It’s not the comfiest in all honesty, but I don’t really care about comfort if the performance is there.”
However, at the moment, the young British driver admitted that the performance is not there in the new car. He believes that the team has a lot of work to be done between now and the next week.
“We do seem a step behind our rivals, and we do have a lot of work to do between now and next week to understand because in every condition the Red Bull and Ferrari seem a step ahead of us,” he added.
Also Read: Lewis Hamilton claims Mercedes will be lucky to have W13 on four wheels before Bahrain GP race
