George Russell has indicated that Mercedes needs to capitalise on its current advantage before the Formula 1 rulebook is updated in just a matter of months.
The Silver Arrows have won two races out of two so far this year, three if this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Race is included in the mix.
Russell won the season-opener in Melbourne, and Saturday’s Sprint before finishing second to teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who took his maiden Grand Prix victory.
The Mercedes duo were once again caught on the hop at the start by both Ferraris, who made a game of it for the early part of the race, before the German marque’s pace advantage began to tell significantly.
With the Mercedes scampering off into the distance, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were left all alone to battle it out between themselves for third place, with Hamilton taking the final podium spot, for the first time as a Ferrari driver.
After the race, Russell admitted he was patiently anticipating Hamilton and Leclerc to have each other off the road, and acknowledged what areas on its SF-26 car is superior to that of his W17.
“Well, I was just waiting for the two of them to collide. And they somehow didn’t. It was some of the most aggressive racing I’ve seen for a while,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“If I wasn’t sort of trying to win the race, I’d have been enjoying the battle. But obviously, watching Kimi pull away during those points, it was a little bit annoying. But Ferrari are definitely very quick.
“They’re quicker in the corners than us, slower than us in the straight. So it just made it a little bit challenging. And when he was trying to get past two of them at the same point, that wasn’t straightforward.”
George Russell: Mercedes ‘can’t take upper hand for granted’
The rulebook tweaks that will come into effect on June 1 are centred around how compression ratios are measured, which puts Mercedes’ contentious power unit’s advantage under significant threat.
This gave Mercedes seven races to maximise its current edge on its rivals, but with the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix now cancelled, the advantage is now down to just three races, with two having been run already.
“But as it stands, we have the upper hand. But we can’t take that for granted,” Russell added, “because obviously, we know some things are going to be changing in a couple of months.
“The upgrades are massive at the moment. So let’s see where it falls out.”
If the FIA changes truncates Mercedes’ current charge, then the Ferrari prancing horse must be feeling a gallop brewing in its hind legs. And if it levels out things, then Hamilton and Leclerc might be able to finally challenge at the front.
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