Mercedes assess upgraded car after difficult Friday in Malaysia
Mercedes debuted an upgraded Formula 1 package in Malaysia, but Friday did not fully go to plan. George Russell said the car was off the pace and that he needs to make a tweak ahead of the rest of the weekend.
Mercedes introduced a new upgrade package on Friday in Malaysia, with the revised car making its debut during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. The team’s day was described as one of its toughest Fridays of the season, as some rivals started more strongly in both practice sessions.
George Russell finished second in the first session and seventh in the second. He was 0.383s away from Max Verstappen in FP1 and 0.492s behind Charles Leclerc in FP2, and said the Mercedes was off the pace.
Russell also said he needs to make a tweak to the car. The early running therefore gave Mercedes its first on-track readout of the new package, but also showed that more work is needed to improve its pace.
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