Japanese Grand Prix: George Russell says Mercedes practice pace 'not representative' of actual speed

George Russell admits Mercedes’ second practice pace is “not representative” of what they expect at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as he led a one-two from team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Friday’s running in Suzuka was wet with Russell heading the way in FP2, but qualifying is set to be dry. Ad Mercedes have taken just one pole position this year, which happened at the Hungarian Grand Prix thanks to a sensational lap from Russell.

Japanese Grand PrixHorner suggests F1 budget cap row ‘designed to be a bit of a distraction’ for Verstappen’s titleAN HOUR AGO “It's probably not going to be that representative for this weekend but definitely good learning for the future,” Russell said. “There’s a chance on Sunday it could be wet but it looks pretty dry tomorrow. Nevertheless, it's always nice to end the day, top of the timesheets and definitely made some improvements from FP1 as we were at the bottom.” Mercedes are yet to win a race in 2022 with Lewis Hamilton needing a victory on one of the remaining five Grand Prix to maintain his streak of winning in every season he’s competed in since making his Formula 1 debut in 2007.

Hamilton, who is in talks over a new contract to remain in F1 beyond next year, backed Russell’s comments. “It’s been pretty dull,” he said. “There are definitely things to take from the session and data on downforce loads and what wing levels everyone is on.