George Russell ended Friday on the Spanish Grand Prix in a “good place” after reaching P2 on the timesheets, although the Mercedes driver acknowledged that the crew nonetheless must work on their long-run tempo compared to their Qualifying type.
Off the again of a nightmarish weekend for the squad final day trip in Monaco, the Silver Arrows didn’t initially present their hand in first apply on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after opting to not run the comfortable tyres throughout the session, leaving Russell and crew mate Kimi Antonelli in P11 and P18 respectively.
FP2: Piastri tops the timesheets ahead of Russell and Verstappen during second practice in Spain
The image appeared extra constructive in FP2, nonetheless, with Russell setting the tempo for a interval of the session. Whereas he went on to be displaced by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, the Briton remained in second place whereas Antonelli ended the hour in sixth.
Reflecting again on the day’s operating, Russell commented: “Within the Quali runs we regarded fairly first rate, so it was good to be again the place the automotive has been after some robust races. However, the long term tempo doesn’t look very good and that has been an goal of ours lately, to attempt to enhance the long term tempo.