Mercedes duo George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli suggested positive results are possible in Formula 1‘s Singapore Grand Prix, despite a difficult first free practice day.
Friday in Singapore was not a day to remember for George Russell or Kimi Antonelli, as Free Practice 1 saw uncompetitive times for the Brackley-based squad, while the more valuable FP2 session saw the team fall further.
While Antonelli fell to P18 in the second session, Russell found his session cut short as he brought out a red flag, as the Briton hit the wall at Turn 16, costing him his front wing.
After FP2, Russell admitted that his day was “challenging”, however, he remains hopeful for a strong weekend.
“In those early laps I had a much better feel with the car, to be honest. The pace seemed better,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“We didn’t complete any laps, so there was no sort of real lap time on the board. But at least the sort of laps that we took the sectors together felt better.
“But as I said, it’s not been our best Friday by a long way. But Singapore, the track’s always evolving and there’s a bit of rain in the air, so I’m not too concerned.”
Antonelli hopeful of improving Mercedes ahead of Singapore GP
Antonelli faced similar struggles to his senior teammate during FP1 and failed to set the timesheets alight during FP2.
However, the Italian feels his day was not as bad as the standings suggest.
“To be honest, to me it didn’t look as bad,” he said. “The results definitely didn’t show what we could have achieved. Because on the Soft lap I had to abort the lap, but we were on for a pretty good lap.”
Looking to build on his strong performance in Azerbaijan, the 19-year-old feels confident in the car as the team hunts for pace.
“To be honest, I felt pretty good in the car. We’re trying to find the best set-up. There’s still quite a little bit to improve. But as well, with my driving I’m trying to evolve lap by lap.
“Hopefully tomorrow I can improve myself and hopefully we can improve the car a little bit as well. And then we can put on a fight.”
Antonelli will have been relieved to see Toto Wolff squash rumours of a Mercedes exit, having endured an up-and-down debut season in F1.
Speculation had linked the Italian with a swap to Williams or Alpine, but he will now continue with the Silver Arrows for the foreseeable future.
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