At Imola, George Russell experienced an improved driving experience with his upgraded Mercedes.
Mercedes driver George Russell believes McLaren, not Red Bull or Ferrari, are favourites to take victory at Imola this weekend after a promising practice showing.
In FP2, Oscar Piastri secured the second position, trailing behind Charles Leclerc. Meanwhile, Lando Norris aimed to achieve a faster time during qualifying simulations, but encountered a setback as he ran wide at the second Rivazza corner. Consequently, he had to abandon his representative run right at the last moment.
George Russell: McLaren the favourites at Imola
Both Russell and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton got themselves into the top five in FP2 in a session that saw the teams trial their qualifying set-ups for a lap of Imola.
By the end of the session, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez from Red Bull seemed to face some difficulties, finishing in P7 and P8 respectively. Meanwhile, Russell expressed his appreciation for the enhanced performance of the W15 on Friday, concluding his run.
However, despite that, he has the belief that McLaren is the team to surpass this weekend. The upgrades they brought to Miami seem to have paid off, as Lando Norris secured his first-ever grand prix win.
“After the session, Russell expressed his satisfaction with the car’s performance and mentioned that both Lewis and himself had a positive experience driving it, which was quite enjoyable,” Russell stated.
“We appear to be reasonably competitive, slightly edging closer compared to our performance in Miami.”
I am confident that our true position will be revealed during the qualifying round for everyone to see.
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In my opinion, McLaren appears to be the frontrunners currently and likely the fastest once more. They have consistently showcased impressive speed since the China race.
Despite that, the team has done an exceptional job in incorporating these new parts into the car, resulting in a notable advancement.
Regarding Mercedes, Russell expressed admiration for his team’s efficiency in expediting the arrival of their new components to Imola ahead of the planned timeframe.
According to team principal Toto Wolff, they are embarking on a promising path that they anticipate will yield positive results in the upcoming races. The British driver also believes that there were encouraging indications from Friday’s practice sessions at Imola.
Russell noted that the team has been putting in exceptional effort to expedite the arrival of these parts sooner than expected.
“It’s truly inspiring to witness the team’s unwavering motivation, despite the challenges we’ve faced in the past few races.”
“Everyone desires to enhance and elevate; the car felt exceptionally well today.”
“We will discover our position in the pecking order tomorrow. Considering the close competition and the short lap, I anticipate that the differences will be minimal and everything will be finely balanced.”
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