British driver, however, urged caution regarding optimism; after all, the German team is still dealing with disappointing qualifying pace and W13 swerving in high-speed corners
Mercedes can certainly be optimistic after Friday (01) of Formula 1 at Silverstone. After the first free practice sessions for the British GP, the German team acknowledged the good performance prospects at the legendary circuit.
More than sheer speed and a start to solving the W13's many problems, Mercedes relies on the good race pace shown in the simulations done during Friday's sessions to justify the feeling of hope. George Russell says.
"When we did the simulations, we saw that our race pace is much higher than our qualifying pace. We saw McLaren very strong in lap speed. We couldn't make the tires work at lap pace, but we think in race duration, we'll be in an ideal window. It's obviously always a balance. There are positives to take away, but we're not where we want to be yet," analyzed the Briton.
As he rightly said at the end of his opening statement, despite the promise of a good result, Russell showed caution. After all, with an empty tank, the Briton does not look kindly on Mercedes' performance - which explains the lack of speed in qualifying pace. In addition, even without the kicks on the main straight, the W13 still wobbles due to its stiffness - something the Silver Arrows need to pay attention to, especially at Silverstone, as evaluated by the British driver.
"I had difficulties with the emptier tank, especially compared to Lewis (Hamilton), who had a very good lap. With the full tank, (W13) definitely showed more promise, compared to McLaren - who were also on hard tires, like us. I was faster, and in the end, with the tires already warmed up, we were as fast as Ferrari. There are positive signs, but there is definitely room for us to improve," Russell said.
"It's a very different circuit here at Silverstone. We knew the bouncing would be difficult in the high-speed corners, so it's being a challenge and we need to understand it. We're not bouncing on the main straight, which is positive," he finished.
GRANDE PRÊMIO follows LIVE and INREAL TIME all the activities of the British GP weekend. On Saturday, TL3 opens the day at 8am (GMT-3), while qualifying starts at 11am.