News Summary
- George Russell finished fourth in FP2, 0.273s behind Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
- Russell was happier with his long-run pace and identified understeer as an area to address before qualifying.
- A five-place engine penalty makes Saturday’s result especially important, but Russell believes he can still challenge near the front on Sunday.
George Russell left Friday practice at Interlagos more encouraged by how his Mercedes felt over a stint than by its pace on a single lap. The distinction matters this weekend. He will drop five places on the São Paulo Grand Prix grid after taking a new engine, so any gains Mercedes can find before qualifying will determine how much ground he has to recover on Sunday.
“Overall, it was a solid Friday. We look to be in the mix, although it’s very close between several teams at the front.
“The long run pace felt stronger than our single-lap performance on my side, so there are definitely areas we can work on overnight to try and find a bit more ahead of Qualifying.
“The car wasn’t perfect and we’ve got some understeer to dial out; there’s still some performance to find if we want to be fighting right at the front tomorrow.”
Russell identifies understeer as the priority after fourth in FP2
Russell was fifth in Friday’s opening practice, then briefly led FP2 with a 1:11.036 as drivers switched to soft tyres for their qualifying runs. Lando Norris beat that time by 0.020s, with Max Verstappen slotting between them. Andrea Kimi Antonelli then put the other Mercedes on top with a 1:10.763, leaving Russell fourth.
The gap to Norris showed how little separated the cars immediately behind Antonelli. Russell also cautioned that changing weather at Interlagos could make Friday’s order a less reliable guide to the rest of the weekend.
“The conditions are likely to change across the weekend, so what we saw today won’t necessarily be fully representative of what we face tomorrow and Sunday.
“It looks like we’re in for another really close fight and small margins are going to make a difference.”
A five-place penalty puts more weight on Saturday
Mercedes is introducing another internal combustion engine beyond Russell’s season allocation. His penalty applies to the Grand Prix grid, so even pole would mean starting sixth if no other grid changes intervened. The stronger long-run pace Russell felt on Friday is what gives him confidence that he can make up places from there.
“Obviously, the five-place grid penalty we have makes our task a little more difficult,”, he said.
“It puts even more emphasis on having a strong qualifying and putting the car as high up the grid as possible before the penalty is applied.
“If we can do that, then I’m confident we can still put ourselves in a position to move forward and challenge near the front on Sunday.”
GRANDE PRÊMIO is following every session of the São Paulo Grand Prix in Formula 1 live from Interlagos.
