(Motorsports news) On Friday, the British driver finished third fastest in the more representative second practice session at the Marina Bay circuit, trailing the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. And he stated that, while things appeared to be very close between a lot of teams and more was needed for qualifying, Mercedes had had a really encouraging run.
“It’s definitely our best Friday of the year so far,” Russell said. “But it’s definitely close between about five teams right now, which is pretty exciting. So we’ll have to work hard overnight to gain those last milliseconds before tomorrow.” While many were surprised to see Ferrari in the front on the high-downforce Singapore track, Russell thought that the team could not only maintain that form into Saturday, but might even go faster based on GPS data of the engine modes it was running.
“Ferrari are looking like favourites at the moment, and I don’t think Ferrari were at their maximum with their power unit as well,” Russell continued. “Ferrari have got a couple more tenths in their pocket. FP1 was rock solid,” he remarked. “We were still a touch behind schedule, but it wasn’t too horrible. FP2 was without a doubt the best FP2 session I’d had this year.
“It was nice to end a Friday on such a high note.” I believe we’ve laid a solid foundation for the rest of the weekend. It’s the nicest Friday feeling I’ve had all year, so I’m hoping we can do some good work overnight, as we normally do, and continue to progress.” Russell’s comments on Ferrari’s true speed were repeated by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard, who finished fourth in FP2, believes the Maranello team is definitely ahead, and he expects a better Saturday for the struggling Red Bull outfit. “I think Ferrari is probably out of reach again,” Alonso explained. “They’re a little too fast, like Monza.”
“Red Bull will be fast when it counts tomorrow, so yeah, it’s very tight.” You can be P5 or P6, or you can be out of Q3 because there are so many cars within two tenths. It’s going to be difficult. We need to be prepared for anything and nail the laps in Q2 and Q3.”
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