The Mercedes drivers have mixed feelings after the first day of free practice

At the end of the first day of testing in Melbourne, Mercedes’ feelings are mixed. After a convincing first session finishing second, Lewis Hamilton couldn’t confirm his good result in the wet conditions of the second free practice, finishing 13th. George Russell, on the other hand, was rather satisfied with his car.

The seven-time world champion expressed his discontent about the adjustments on his car at the end of the day. (e) This morning was good. This afternoon was not as good. (e) The adjustments made between the two sessions did not have the expected result despite the rain. (e) We made some changes, they didn’t work, so we will revise them tonight, and then it rained. It was therefore not the greatest of sessions. (e)

Moreover, Lewis Hamilton doesn’t see himself as competitive against the Red Bulls this weekend, but hopes to achieve a good result. « I don’t think we will be in competition with the Red Bulls. It will simply be about trying to see if we can reach as high as possible. We have the pace to be around fifth place, like in the last race », concludes the Briton.

Reverse feeling for Russell

On the contrary, George Russell felt comfortable with the settings on his car. The British driver finished ninth in the first session before improving in the second session, setting the fourth fastest time in the rain, far ahead of his teammate. We made a lot of setup changes during the break, we’ve made good progress recently, we’ve changed quite a few things and put the car in a nice window as the weekend progresses, Russell rejoices. He also confirms his teammate’s ambitions in the race. That’s a fair assessment, he confirms, before adding that the third row, probably between P5 and P8, I think that’s what we’re aiming for at the moment.