Mercedes’ George Russell feels “positive” after a strong Friday Practice ahead of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Russell dominated FP1 in a session where ten regular drivers were absent in order to provide rookie drivers with time in the cockpit, but eventually finished sixth in FP2 after having initially led prior to two red flags in a disruptive session topped by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Brit though was pleased with his work across both sessions which he felt was “relatively positive”, despite driving alongside Frederik Vesti in FP1 as he said: “There were a lot of rookie drivers out there on track in FP1, so we didn’t get a completely clear gauge of where our relative pace was.
“Fred did a good job for the team though, and we got a lot of useful data to look over.”
Vesti meanwhile described the chance to drive alongside Russell in FP1 as “an incredible experience.”
The 21 year-old Dane will return to the cockpit in the post-season test on Tuesday 28 November but he felt that he has progressed from his first FP1 session in Mexio in late October.
“I was really pleased with how the session went and I was progressing well throughout the hour. I was much more confident with the car than in Mexico given the knowledge I had gained from that FP1. There are always things you can improve and there was more potential out there.”
Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin added that Vesti had delivered “a great job” for the team in FP1, as he explained: “We were able to get some useful work done on his car, which will be helpful as we prepare for qualifying and the race.”
Lewis Hamilton returned to the cockpit of his Mercedes in FP2 but Russell believes that the team couldn’t get a fair understanding of their overall pace.
“FP2 was clearly an interrupted session so again, we couldn’t get a read on where we were stacking up against our competitors or a true picture of where our pace may be.
“Nevertheless, we have a lot to review overnight and that will hopefully put us in a good place to finish the last race of the season on a high. I’m excited going into tomorrow.”
Hamilton meanwhile felt that FP2 was “very frustrating” from his perspective but is confident of improvement, as he commented: “On the laps we did do, the car felt OK. The grip felt good and there are a few things we will look at overnight to see what we can improve.
“It was a shame we didn’t get more running, but we will look to make up for that in FP3 tomorrow.”
Shovlin echoed Hamilton’s feelings due to the two red flags as he shared the seven-time champion’s feeling of being “… understandably frustrated not to be able to get more laps in.”
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