Russell fears Red Bull pace: 'Faster in single lap as well as long runs'

George Russell closed the Brazilian Grand Prix with his first win, but after the first two free practice sessions in Abu Dhabi, he does not expect Mercedes to be in as good a shape this weekend as they were a week ago. Russell therefore thinks his fight will mainly be with Ferrari this weekend.

Russell speaks of a "very strong day" in terms of what Mercedes has learned for the development of the car for 2023. He stressed that it was one of the last opportunities to learn lessons for the next Formula 1 season. "With the test items that we ran during FP1, especially on my side of the garage, I'm looking forward to 2023 with what we've learned today," he said in a Mercedes press release.

While Mercedes came out strong in the first free practice, the team had to concede to Max Verstappen in FP2. According to Russell, this had everything to do with the lower temperature of the tarmac. "The car felt fast, but I think Red Bull are ahead of us in terms of single lap pace and maybe even more so in the long runs," the Briton continued.

He continued: "So, we have some work to do overnight, but compared to Ferrari our performance from what we can tell so far looks reasonable for this weekend. I'd like to think we'll be able to fight for the top 3 in qualifying tomorrow and see where that can take us on Sunday."