© Finn Pomeroy for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
After the final day of testing, George Russell says he doesn’t think Red Bull and Ferrari are “exceptional”, but they “are in a natural position” while Mercedes is “just a step back”.
After climbing out of his car following the final pre-season testing session in Bahrain, George Russell said Mercedes is simply “not as competitive as we’d like”.
“It’s definitely bouncing around from within,” the Briton said.
“It’s not the comfiest in all honesty, but I don’t really care about comfort if the performance is there,” Russell said about the W13’s porpoising during testing.
“But at the moment the performance isn’t there, we do seem a step behind our rivals, and we do have a lot of work to do between now and next week to understand, because in every condition the Red Bull and Ferrari seem a step ahead of us.
“I don’t think they’re exceptional, I just think we’re not as competitive as we’d like, to be honest. The Ferrari and Red Bull are in a natural position and we’re just a step back.”
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Asked whether he thinks the team can solve the car’s issues with some small tweaks or if the car is fundamentally flawed, Russell said:
As to whether it is a question of the team making small tweaks or there is something more fundamentally wrong with the car going into next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Russell added:
“I’m not too sure. It is pretty clear where we are limited. You’ve only got to watch the videos and you see us bouncing around a lot which is not putting the car in the right window.
“The team are working hard to try and find solutions for this. We’ve yet to find one but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to find one ahead of next week or later in the season.
“This is a long game, I do believe the performance is there somewhere, we’ve just got to find it,” George concluded.
