Russell believes Mercedes ‘fighting for the next best’ position behind McLaren in Bahrain

George Russell believes that Mercedes will be «fighting for the next best» position behind McLaren after the papaya-coloured cars dominated practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Drivers’ Championship leader Lando Norris topped Free Practice 1, held in the sweltering heat of the desert, before being pipped to the top spot in the cooler evening conditions of Free Practice 2 by McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri.

The Australian finished more than half a second clear of Russell in third after running in the representative conditions, which is when both Qualifying and the Grand Prix will take place on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Russell missed the opening session as the seat in his Mercedes W16 was filled by rookie Frederik Vesti, but the Briton was satisfied with his running later in the day on soft Pirelli tyres and believes, unlike the previous races this season, Qualifying won’t be the most crucial aspect of the weekend.

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - FEBRUARY 26: George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team — Russell believes himself and team-mate Antonelli can be best of the rest in Bahrain

«We expected McLaren to be a step ahead here and we saw that today,» said Russell. «Long way ahead in the middle sector where tyres are overheating so we know we’ve got a bit of work to do but I think we’re in a position fighting for the next best I think.

«I think the Ferraris were on course for a pretty good lap, I think they had a bit of a bad last sector but I think it’s going to be close between ourselves, Ferrari and Max [Verstappen] but we just never know to be honest.

«I definitely feel, unlike the last three races, this won’t be dominated by Qualifying, this weekend is going to be dominated by race pace, tyre [degradation]. So of course you want to have a good Qualifying but the race is where the action will be.»

Mercedes team mate Kimi Antonelli finished fifth in FP2, less than two tenths behind his more experienced team mate having registered only three laps in the opening session.

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - APRIL 11: Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy driving the (12) Mercedes AMG Petronas — Antonelli missed most of FP1 with a mechanical issue

This was after his car developed a mechanical issue which forced him to sit on the sidelines until the afternoon, before posting a time in FP2 which left him 0.722s behind Piastri’s benchmark.

«Unfortunately I had an intercooler issue with the car so I had to stop and couldn’t drive for the rest of the session which obviously was a shame because you don’t want to be wasting any laps,» said Antonelli.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the action from FP2 in Bahrain as Piastri sets the pace from Norris

«I think FP2 was quite positive. Single lap it felt quite good, I made a big mistake in sector one but overall I felt pretty good in the car.

«Long run was quite tricky, the situation was completely different compared to what we had in testing. So I needed to adapt but overall I think, despite the issue in FP1, was still a positive day.»