With George Russell finally getting his move to Mercedes, everyone was expecting him to be challenging for race victories in 2022. However, after FP2 in Bahrain, George was less than impressed with the pace of his W13.
“We’re a long way off the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari,” said Russell. “Even the likes of AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo are seemingly on our pace or even quicker. So yeah, we’ve got a bit of work to do.”
Of course, Mercedes are known for downplaying themselves during testing, but all the signs so far point to this being different. Russell finished the session in P4 but claimed that was just ‘one-lap pace’ and that Mercedes are “over a second slower than where our rivals are.” Ouch.
Lewis Hamilton meanwhile finished down in ninth behind Mick Schumacher’s Haas, with his old Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in a surprising P6 for Alfa Romeo.
Could this really be the year Mercedes were telling the truth about their pre-season struggles? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
