Fresh off their first win of the season in Brazil last weekend, Mercedes arrived in Abu Dhabi aiming to end the campaign on a high and battle it out at the front again.
Lewis Hamilton led Russell to a one-two finish in Friday’s daytime FP1 at Yas Marina Circuit, but Max Verstappen brought Red Bull back to the front of the pack on second practice.
Verstappen finished the session three tenths of a second ahead of Russell at the top of the timesheets, while Hamilton was two tenths of a second clearer in fourth place.
Russell felt it had been a “very strong day” for Mercedes, having carried out a number of test items on their car in FP1 to help development for 2023, but thought Red Bull just had the advantage in terms of rhythm.
“It was fast there, but I think Red Bull just had their legs on us,” Russell said.
“Only one lap, probably two tenths ahead, long term maybe even further. We have a bit of work to do overnight, but compared to Ferrari, [we] seemed reasonable.
Russell highlighted the strengths of Red Bull’s RB18 car on the straights and out of low-speed corners as being perfectly suited to the characteristics of the Abu Dhabi track.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
“Race run, as I said, [we’re] a bit behind Red Bull,” he said.
“We know they have a very slippery car on the straight, very efficient, and on a circuit like this with two long straights and lots of slow speed corners, that kind of thing suits them perfectly.
“So [I’m] glad we’re much closer than we said in Spa, where it’s not too different from that.”
Hamilton echoed Russell’s thoughts at the end of the day, feeling Mercedes were fast but still slightly behind the Red Bull package, conceding their race “wasn’t very good, but I don’t know where it was. is relative to others.”
He added: “Red Bulls look a bit quicker here, which was expected,” said the seven-time world champion.
“We didn’t expect this to be our best race. But we will work hard overnight. We’re usually there, so hopefully we can fight.
Fresh off their first win of the season in Brazil last weekend, Mercedes arrived in Abu Dhabi aiming to end the campaign on a high and battle it out at the front again.
Lewis Hamilton led Russell to a one-two finish in Friday’s daytime FP1 at Yas Marina Circuit, but Max Verstappen brought Red Bull back to the front of the pack on second practice.
Verstappen finished the session three tenths of a second ahead of Russell at the top of the timesheets, while Hamilton was two tenths of a second clearer in fourth place.
Russell felt it had been a “very strong day” for Mercedes, having carried out a number of test items on their car in FP1 to help development for 2023, but thought Red Bull just had the advantage in terms of rhythm.
“It was fast there, but I think Red Bull just had their legs on us,” Russell said.
“Only one lap, probably two tenths ahead, long term maybe even further. We have a bit of work to do overnight, but compared to Ferrari, [we] seemed reasonable.
Russell highlighted the strengths of Red Bull’s RB18 car on the straights and out of low-speed corners as being perfectly suited to the characteristics of the Abu Dhabi track.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
“Race run, as I said, [we’re] a bit behind Red Bull,” he said.
“We know they have a very slippery car on the straight, very efficient, and on a circuit like this with two long straights and lots of slow speed corners, that kind of thing suits them perfectly.
“So [I’m] glad we’re much closer than we said in Spa, where it’s not too different from that.”
Hamilton echoed Russell’s thoughts at the end of the day, feeling Mercedes were fast but still slightly behind the Red Bull package, conceding their race “wasn’t very good, but I don’t know where it was. is relative to others.”
He added: “Red Bulls look a bit quicker here, which was expected,” said the seven-time world champion.
“We didn’t expect this to be our best race. But we will work hard overnight. We’re usually there, so hopefully we can fight.