Mercedes: George Russell is delighted, Kimi Antonelli isn’t worried

Mercedes driver George Russell finished second in Friday’s free practice session in Barcelona, ahead of his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was fifth after missing the morning session. After practice, the British driver expressed his satisfaction: “It was a positive day following our recent run of bad luck; it was important to start this weekend on the right foot, and that’s exactly what we did. The car performed well in both sessions and, crucially, was consistent.”

“This is particularly important on a circuit like this, which can really highlight any weaknesses in a car,” continued Russell, who compared the car to the others. “The McLarens were fast on a single lap, and the long-run data in FP2 showed that we can expect a fight from the Ferraris and Red Bulls as well.”

Antonelli, who handed his car over to young Frederik Vesti in the morning practice, posted the fifth-fastest time in the afternoon, well behind his teammate. The championship leader didn’t seem worried, though: “I struggled a bit on the single lap, but I already know what to change and what to tell my track engineer to adjust the car.”

“There’s still a lot of work to do, but I’m sure we’ll improve tomorrow and do our best, because Russell is very fast and the McLarens are also ahead of us. We’ll try to be as ready as possible to have a good FP3 and a good qualifying session.”