George Russell was yesterday the best man for Mercedes in the first two free practice sessions of the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix. He led the first session in Yas Marina, which had several rookies on track, improving at night in FP2 where he set the sixth fastest time.
The #63 explained that, despite the collected data, neither of yesterday’s sessions allowed for clear assessments of the pace relative to the competition:
– It was a relatively positive Friday for us. There were many rookie drivers on track in FP1, so we didn’t have a completely clear gauge of where our pace was. Fred [Vesti] did a good job for the team and we obtained a lot of useful data to analyze. FP2 was clearly an interrupted session, so we couldn’t once again get a reading of where we stood against our opponents or a true picture of where our pace might be. Nevertheless, we have a lot to review and hopefully that will put us in a good position to finish the season on a high. I’m excited about Saturday.’
