George Russell believes that the deciding factor in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be about “getting the most out of the tyres” as Mercedes look to challenge pacesetters McLaren.
Russell finished sixth in Free Practice 1 before slipping back to seventh in the second session on Friday, held in the cooler, more relevant conditions that Qualifying and the race will take place.
READ MORE: Norris tops the times during second practice in Saudi Arabia as Tsunoda crashes
Drivers’ Championship leader Lando Norris finished fastest in FP2, just over a tenth faster than McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri, with the pair having generally dominated this season so far.
But while the papaya cars were expected to disappear into the distance last time out in Bahrain, tyre degradation meant the battle at the front remained close with Russell suggesting a similar situation could arise in Jeddah.
Russell is pushing to close the gap to McLaren
“It always comes down to the same, which is getting the most out of the tyres,” he said.
“I think we tried some things, me and Kimi [Antonelli] did some different things which was valuable to try and learn. I think we got a bit of a direction from that.
“I was intrigued to see the long-run pace but unfortunately with the red flag [after Yuki Tsunoda’s crash] at the end we didn’t manage to see that. I think it’ll be a close battle again for the next best team and hopefully we can try and sneak up there, but McLaren are very good again.”
WATCH: Tsunoda crash brings out the red flags during FP2 in Saudi Arabia
Mercedes team mate Kimi Antonelli had several moments on Friday which included taking to the run-off areas and even clouting the wall on the exit of the last corner, albeit carrying on with no damage.
The young Italian finished 13th and 11th respectively as he got to grips with the high-speed circuit but believes there were encouraging signs to take from the opening day of practice.
“Quite a tricky day, obviously it’s about trying to find every detail because it’s not an easy track and it’s really important to place the car very well, especially in sector one, but overall I think was quite positive,” he said.
“I think FP2 was looking pretty good, I was feeling good, especially on the medium and on the soft I did a mistake on lap one and obviously the tyre didn’t hold on as they could have. But overall I think a positive day and looking forward to tomorrow.”
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