Russell confident Mercedes ‘in the mix’ for Qualifying after ‘pretty positive’ Friday at Suzuka

George Russell is confident that Mercedes can be in the fight for the front two rows on the grid during Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix following a “pretty positive” day of running for the squad on Friday.

Off the back of a strong start to the season – having scored back-to-back podiums in Australia and China – Russell continued the Silver Arrows’ good run of form during the first day on track at the Suzuka Circuit, ending FP1 in P2 on the timesheets before still managing P6 in second practice despite not getting a representative soft tyre run on the board in a disrupted session.

FP2: Piastri sets the pace as Doohan crashes amid disrupted second practice in Japan

Sharing his thoughts on how Friday had unfolded for the team after jumping out of the car, the Briton began by expressing his relief that Alpine’s Jack Doohan had walked away from a heavy crash that triggered the first red flag in FP2.

“Firstly glad to see Jack was okay – it looked like there’s not much he could have done there,” said Russell. “It’s always a bit concerning when you see such a big crash. But, from our side, a pretty positive day, to be honest.

SUZUKA, JAPAN - APRIL 04: George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 — Russell is hopeful that Mercedes will be "in the mix" at the front during Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix

“The car’s been handling really nicely and I’ve been really pleased with that, to be honest! So we’ve got to make sure it stays the same for tomorrow.

“The wind is playing a big factor, it’s really windy out there, and tomorrow the wind’s going to shift 180 degrees, so that’s going to really change how the car’s feeling. But I’m confident we can be in the mix for fighting for the front two rows.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch as Piastri goes fastest while Doohan crashes in disrupted FP2 in Japan

Reflecting on whether it had still been possible to gain an understanding of the different tyre compounds amid the disruption of second practice, Russell added: “Yeah, I mean often when you have the hard tyre on it goes for quite a long time.

“I got four laps on that tyre, and you’d be hoping on Sunday to be doing up to 30-odd laps on that tyre. It’s in those last 10 laps in the race when you really know if the tyre’s able to hold on or not, so that’s going to be news to everyone on Sunday, a bit of rain maybe on the way.

“I don’t think there’s a huge amount of learning to be had, but we are always there or thereabouts on the timesheet which is the biggest [and] most important thing.”

Russell acknowledged the challenge of trying to chase McLaren – who topped the timesheets in both of the day’s sessions – but the 27-year-old also recognised the performances of others during free practice, including Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar who was third quickest in FP2.

'Pretty positive' Friday for Mercedes and Russell in Japan

“The McLarens once more look very strong, and when they put the lap together they’re a step ahead, but we know that’s the case,” Russell conceded. “[And there are] a few other guys. Isack Hadjar is doing a really great job.

“He’s been really fast as well, which was quite a surprise, so we just don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring, and even Fernando [Alonso] before he went off was on a really fast lap as well. It’s a little bit unusual to see so many different teams in the mix, but I’d like to think we’ll be in that fight for the top four positions.”

Team mate Kimi Antonelli, meanwhile, was left to rue his lack of smooth running during second practice but spoke positively about how Free Practice 1 had gone, having ended that session in ninth on the timesheets.

“FP2 was pretty messy as well on my side, [I] couldn’t really get a clean lap,” the Italian explained. “Just lots of mistakes, especially in Sector 1, so it was not as clean as FP1. FP1 was actually looking pretty good, but definitely we will analyse tonight and see what we can do better tomorrow.”

In terms of whether he was able to gain a clear direction for those overnight improvements ahead of Saturday, Antonelli commented: “Yeah, definitely. [On the] long run, the last lap of course there was another red flag but it was looking very, very strong, so definitely I see where I can do better and make sure tomorrow I’ll improve.”