George Russell conceded that Mercedes were not quite as competitive as hoped for during the opening day of action at the Dutch Grand Prix, with the Briton ending FP2 in fourth while team mate Kimi Antonelli lost out on mileage in FP1 after becoming beached in the gravel.
Following a run of more challenging races during the middle of the season, things seemed to be looking more positive for the Silver Arrows last time out in Hungary after reverting to an older suspension.
As the campaign resumed again in Zandvoort post-summer break, Russell ended the day’s first practice session in seventh before improving to fourth in the second hour, leading the 27-year-old to suggest that the squad had hoped for more.
“I felt good out there, to be honest,” Russell explained after jumping out of the car. “It was great to be back driving again after a couple of weeks out. Conditions for everybody were really tricky.
“It was really windy and this circuit has a lot of 180-degree corners so, when it is windy and gusty, the car is going through that whole phase of the corner, so it’s more exposed than on other circuits, maybe like Silverstone, where it’s a little bit in and out of the corners – I hope that makes some sort of sense!
“But, [in terms of] competitiveness, maybe not quite as close to the front as we’d like, but the race pace looks okay, sort of in the usual mix.”
Pushed on whether Aston Martin could be the team’s main competition during the weekend – following an impressive performance by the squad on Friday, with Fernando Alonso ending FP2 in second place – Russell responded: “These last couple of races have been really surprising.
“Aston had a really bad run of form, and then they were really on it in Hungary and they had a great result. Here they look fast. Ferrari have seemed really off the pace today, but I’m sure that can turn very quickly as well, and same with Max [Verstappen].
“He had a tough race in Hungary, but I think that was more of an outlier. So, as it stands, it looks like a bit of a fight with the Astons, with Max and with ourselves, but I’m sure Ferrari will get in there.”
Russell also gave his take on an unusual moment with Oscar Piastri in the pit lane, during which the Mercedes driver had to brake heavily when the Australian moved back into the fast lane ahead of him after being unable to enter the McLaren pit box. The papaya outfit were later fined for the incident.
“I think he pulled in a bit too early and pulled back out,” said Russell. “A bit unfortunate but it scared me a bit! When you’re on track you’re ready for anything, but when you’re in the pit lane going relatively very slow, you’re just chilling out. I was looking at my screen and I was like, ‘Geez!’ It caught me by surprise!”
On the other side of the Mercedes garage, it was a tricky day for Antonelli. The Italian ran off the track in the early stages of FP1 and became beached in the gravel at Turn 9, resulting in the red flags being thrown as his stricken car was recovered.
While this resulted in him missing the rest of the session, Antonelli returned to action in FP2 and put himself into P12 on the timesheets.
Reflecting on his day, the youngster explained: “I was pushing pretty hard early on in FP1 and then I locked up, and then I got beached and my session was over after just one lap. It was obviously not ideal because I lost some mileage and didn’t do any laps basically.
“In FP2 I kind of had to build my rhythm. There’s quite a bit of work to do, but we know where to improve and now looking forward to tomorrow.
“We’ll see how the weather’s going to be, but if it’s going to be dry we’ll try to improve those few things, and then I think it was a decent session. Of course there were quite a few mistakes during the lap, but we’ll try to be ready for tomorrow.”