George Russell has claimed that Ferrari has ‘quite an advantage’ at the F1 Mexico City GP, however, Charles Leclerc disagrees with Russell’s assessment.
As the F1 grid heads into the Mexico City GP weekend, Andrea Kimi Antonelli is all but set to become World Champion during the 19th round of the championship. While the season has been fantastic for Antonelli, it has not been quite as great for teammate George Russell.
Russell heads into Mexico as runner-up in the Drivers’ Standings, but he trails his teammate by a whopping 123 points. Despite ups and downs this season, including recent technical failures and retirements, the Mercedes W17 remains the strongest car.
Still, the Briton does not believe that Mercedes will be the favourites this weekend, rather, he deems Ferrari to have an advantage.
“It’s going to be very interesting. I think turbo lag is going to be a big factor for a lot of teams this weekend,” Russell said to media, including Motorsport Week.
“There’s obviously no secret, the likes of Ferrari have a smaller turbo than most, so they probably have quite an advantage in this regard.
“We’re not sure as yet how challenging it will be, but can definitely foresee it being not straightforward.”
Charles Leclerc believes Mercedes remain the favourites
Despite Russell’s assessment, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc does not see the Prancing Horse as advantageous this weekend. The Monegasque believed Ferrari has been making progress, but that Red Bull has grown stronger while Mercedes remain the favourites.
“It’s getting very close, and we have good momentum with Singapore and Austin,” the Ferrari driver said.
“We have maximised our potential and I was relatively happy with the pace we’ve shown. Whether we are the favourites this weekend, I don’t fully agree, I think Mercedes remain the favourites wherever we go.”
Looking at the season, Mercedes has found victory at 12 Grand Prix, while Ferrari has only two wins so far. Still, the Scuderia team seem to be progressing.
“I think Red Bull are very strong recently,” Leclerc continued, “but if we maximise everything we have, then I hope it can be a great weekend for us.
“And as we’ve seen, I think the optimisation of our package is what eventually will make most difference. It’s so difficult to put everything in the right window coming into qualifying that if we manage to do so, then I think we’ve got a chance here, but for that we’ve got to be perfect.”
READ MORE: Charles Leclerc concerned about ‘sensitive’ Ferrari in Mexico
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