F1 Japanese GP: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell expect Mercedes to slip back in dry conditions
Russell was 0.235s quicker than teammate Hamilton to 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:lead a Mercedes 1-2 in FP2 and conclude a wet day of running as F1 returned to Japan for the first time since 2019.
The Mercedes pair appeared to be in a league of their own in the rain and ended up nearly a second clear of 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
But with conditions set to dry out for qualifying on Saturday, neither Hamilton or Russell are getting carri♛ed awaꦰy.
“We got through a bit of running, but I th♔ink it’s going to be dry for the rest of the weekend,” said seven-time world champion Hamilton after FP2.
He added: “If we get it to the dry I imagine the Ferraris💫 and Red Bulls will be quite quick. But I really have no idea. I hope that we’re fast but that’s a hope that continues to be the case each week.” 🔯;
Mercedes have struggled with tyre warm up issues🧸 this season but seemed to have no problems🐽 on the abrasive Suzuka asphalt, something that pleased Hamilton.
“Th👍ere’s always things to be taken froᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚm it,” he explained.
“Some of the stuff with set-up, some of the 🐎stuff with tyre wear, tyre temperatures and the balance that we’re moving around between sessions.
“So there’s definitely things to take from it ﷽and there’s data on downforce loads and what wing level everyone else is on.
“On the positive side🔯 we were able to switch our tyres o🌜n today so we didn’t look slow, so that’s good.”
FP2 pacesetter Russell echoed his teamm📖ate’s verdict and is expecting Mercedes to fall back after a competitive start.
“It’s probably not going to be that re♔presentativ🧔e for this weekend but definitely good learning for the future,” said Russell. “It could be wet on Sunday but it looks pretty dry tomorrow.
“Nevertheless, it’s always nice to en🥃d the day top of the timesheets and definitely made some improvements from FP1 as we were at the bottom of the timesheets. Not a bad afternoon.”
Asked what he ⭕thinks is possible in qual🅘ifying, Russell replied: “To be honest, no idea because we think it’s going to be dry tomorrow.
"I think we’﷽ll be fighting as always, for the top six positions. I hope we can have a sh💞ot at something better but I truly don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.
“FP3 will be a c💯rucial session for everybody and trying to fight for a good position.”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for mahbx.com around🌼 the world. Often reporting on the action🌄 from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
