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It was said, but to say that it is one against, reading a ranking in black and white is something else. George Russell, highly anticipated on the eve of the Sakhir Grand Prix weekend, started his apprenticeship at Mercedes in the best possible way, finishing the two free practice sessions held today in Bahrain in the lead.
Not bad as a business card, especially considering that in the qualifying simulations both Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen made mistakes, betrayed by the dreaded ‘8’ curve and traffic (the latter will be a constant throughout the weekend) .
Russell, on the other hand, was impeccable when it was important to be, taking away a first satisfaction, which does not give points but which is moral and, above all, helps to dissolve some of the inevitable pressure that accompanies these days.
“I still have a lot to learn – said George – but I know I can count on the best team on the grid, every piece of advice is valuable and I think I have a lot of room to improve.”
The new Mercedes continued to perform start-up tests, always under the guidance of Peter Bonnington, who followed Russell’s learning step by step, guiding him towards the optimal use of the clutch and flywheel settings.
A constant dialogue, like ‘Bono’ usually does with Hamilton, but this time with basic information and some more ‘please’ than usual from the driver.
The only problems Russell complained about were related to the position in the cockpit, complications that did not affect the work today but must be solved for the race.
To the detriment of Bottas (eleventh in FP2) it is correct to underline that the two W11s that took to the track today did not have the same aerodynamic configuration.
A slightly heavier setup was tested on Bottas’ car, a slight disadvantage on the long straight sections of the Outer Track, the unprecedented setup of the Al Sakhir circuit.
The two burrs in qualifying simulations (both FP1 and FP2) that didn’t allow him to get the most out of the soft tire set are attributable to Bottas. The time canceled in FP2 (54 ”506) would have guaranteed Valtteri the best time of the day, but the ‘8’ corner sensors are a variable to take into account, and it will be the same in tomorrow’s qualifying.
Verstappen, however, redeemed himself by achieving the second time of the day (0 ”128 from Russell), the time of the fourth lap launched, therefore with the set of soft tires no longer at maximum performance.
But the Dutchman was especially surprising on the long runs, both with soft and medium compound, confirming a prohibitive time sequence for the rest of the group. However, there was no direct comparison with the two Mercedes, because the world champion team preferred to complete the race simulations (with both drivers) using hard tires. Feedback was good for both W11s, and Russell looked more comfortable with the ‘white’ compound than the soft one.
From the results that emerged at the end of the first day, Mercedes is confirmed as the favorite for pole, but the 87 laps scheduled for Sunday could bring some surprises, especially if the new track configuration will allow the use of soft tires on the first race stint.
Confirmation of Red Bull’s good form was also confirmed by Alexander Albon, fifth time of the day but above all author of good long races. Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon joined the two Red Bulls, very fast in the first and third sectors.
Instead, deep night in the Ferrari garage. Leclerc had to give up FP2 due to a driveshaft breakage in the early stages of the session, while Vettel had a day to forget.
The feeling with the SF1000, which Seb seemed to have found in recent races, suddenly faded, leaving the field to a series of turns that knocked out the sets of tires available to the German.
Leclerc’s stop did not allow Ferrari to make a comparison between its two drivers, an important fact to understand if it was a ‘no’ night for Vettel or an SF1000 that under these conditions runs the risk of missing Q2 as well.
Vettel was 16th in the final FP2 standings and among the slowest in the race simulation. That the SF1000 does not marry well to the Al Sakhir circuit is not news, but the start of the weekend was definitely below worst expectations.
Tomorrow work will resume based on the much more encouraging results obtained at the end of FP1 (Vettel eighth and Leclerc tenth) in the hope of finding an acceptable balance for qualifying.
