F1 | Russell: “Tomorrow the race is for second place behind Max”

He may not have confirmed the sensational one-two from yesterday's first day of testing, but Mercedes showed that it wasn't just a flash in the pan, because George Russell managed to take third place in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening race of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

The British driver managed to show off a great lap in Q3, placing his W15 between the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, but above all limiting the gap to poleman Max Verstappen to just 308 thousandths, who once again confirms himself as the forecast favourite, even if in qualifying the competition was probably less distant than expected.

A picture that made Russell particularly satisfied, especially for the leap that Mercedes seems to have made in qualifying conditions in the transition from W14 to W15, as he confirmed to Jolyon Palmer's microphone as soon as he arrived at parc fermé.

“They've done a fantastic job at the factory, giving me and Lewis (Hamilton) a car that makes us much happier. It's a good base to build on, even if in the end Max is always in front and we have to make up a some ground. But our speed in qualifying is good, we hope to also have the pace in the race to make it happen”, said Russell.

“We managed to do a great job on the simulator precisely to improve on this aspect. We certainly made a big step forward in qualifying, but let's hope we didn't compromise the race pace. I think it will be a very close battle between everyone except Max” , he added.

When asked if the goal for tomorrow should be the podium or if it is legitimate to hope for victory, George concluded: “It seems to me that Red Bull is very strong at the moment: Max has done an exceptional job and I think he has also new tyres, but if there is an opportunity to take the lead, we will try. But I think the race for us and for everyone else is for second place. But it is still the first race of the season, so let's hope something crazy happens.”