F1 | Spanish GP | Russell optimistic Mercedes upgrade package can be the "foundation to build upon"
Mercedes driver George Russell is confident the team will join Ferrari and Red Bull at the front now that they have found the right developing path to follow.
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After an opening that seemed disastrous Mercedes' season is starting to look better. On Saturday afternoon under the Barcelona sun the team secured a spot in second row for the race, after George Russell outqualified Sergio Perez's Red Bull to put his W13 up in P4 behind the two Ferrari and Max Verstappen.
“Ferrari look extremely fast this weekend and I think we’ve got a better race car than we do a qualifying car,” said Russell post quali.
“I’m really proud of the job everybody has done back at the factory over these past couple of weeks and months, because I think we’ve now got a package that can be our foundation for us to build upon.”
“I’m really proud of the job everybody has done back at the factory over these past couple of weeks and months, because I think we’ve now got a package that can be our foundation for us to build upon.”
The 24-year-old is "definitely confident" that the upgrades the team is implementing will make a huge difference and get Mercedes back in the fight with Ferrari and Red Bull.
"If you look at today, it wasn’t an optimal day yet we still got our best result as a team. We are always there, top 3 top 4."
“Obviously it’s all based on results and that was the best result we had as a team all season," he continued.
“I think it offers optimism because, to be honest, I think we didn’t have the tyres in the right window whatsoever. We were always quickest in sector one and we were always struggling in sector three and we just couldn’t find that right balance to be honest.”
Without this tyre inconvenience Russell is convinced he could have gained another position on the grid.
Without this tyre inconvenience Russell is convinced he could have gained another position on the grid.
“I think if we really optimised everything we could have maybe have been P3 at a push, but not much higher than that,” he said.
Nonetheless he is “pretty pleased and glad" the team "is back on the right track now” and definately looking forward to see what the next races will bring.
As for this Sunday he is expecting Mercedes to be able to compete with Ferrari in a battle for a spot on the podium.
“It’s going to be a chaotic race, with a number of stops I believe for everybody,” he said.
“I think Max looks much quicker than the rest but I think we’ve got a real shot against Ferrari. Unless they’ve found some gains overnight I think we’ll be in the mix with them. We’ll be going for it and try and fight for the podium."
A fight in which a big part will be played by the hot temperatures of the Catalunya circuit that will put the tyres under a lot of pressure.
A fight in which a big part will be played by the hot temperatures of the Catalunya circuit that will put the tyres under a lot of pressure.
“I think this will be the trickiest race of the season so far, even worse than Bahrain in that regard. Tyre deg was massive. So we’ve got to put our thinking caps on tonight and try and find the best solution.”
