Russell downplays Barcelona test times: “The coldest track I’ve ever driven on”
Mercedes topped the timing sheets on Day 3 of pre-season testing in Barcelona, but George Russell insists the freezing conditions make the results practically meaningless.
“The track temperature was in the low single-digits this morning, one of the coldest circuits I’ve ever driven on, so there’s little-to-nothing you can read into the times,” Russell explained.
Kimi Antonelli posted the day’s fastest unofficial lap with a 1:17.382, with Russell not far behind at 1:17.580.
The Mercedes duo put in serious mileage today. Russell completed 92 laps while Antonelli managed 91, giving the team over 850 kilometers of valuable data.
“Everything went relatively smoothly from a reliability perspective today so that is good for our overall programme,” Russell said.
He emphasized that the Barcelona test is primarily about ensuring everything works properly rather than chasing performance.
“This test is all about getting mileage on the car and making sure everything functions as it should. That was the case today as Kimi and myself were able to put a large number of laps in once again.”
The real excitement, according to Russell, lies ahead. “The excitement lies ahead once we head to Melbourne and get a sense of where we stack up against our competitors.”
Will Mercedes run tomorrow? That depends entirely on the weather.
“We’ve still got one more day of running we can accomplish, which may be tomorrow but will depend on the weather,” Russell explained. “We’ve got more work we want to do, and we’re in a good place to run on Thursday, but we will only do so if we are confident it will be dry.”
## Antonelli builds confidence after full afternoon session
Nineteen-year-old Antonelli had a productive afternoon session, completing a full race distance after his Monday running was limited by wet conditions.
“It was a better day on my side than Monday, where the wet track in the morning limited my running,” the Italian driver said. “We were able to run a full race distance this afternoon, building our mileage and getting lots of data for the team to work with.”
The teenager is clearly still adapting to F1 machinery.
“This car is completely new and a big difference to last year’s so I’m getting more used to it with every lap we complete. It’s constant learning for me as a driver and the team too.”
Antonelli echoed Russell’s comments about the team’s approach to testing, focusing on reliability and mileage rather than headline times.
“That is the only real goal of this shakedown and hopefully our third and final day of running goes smoothly,” he said.
Like Russell, Antonelli emphasized their flexible approach to the final day. “That may be tomorrow if the weather looks to be dry; whatever the conditions we face either tomorrow or Friday though, we are focused on adding to our mileage and putting ourselves in the best possible position before we head to Bahrain.”
With Barcelona testing providing limited insights due to the cold conditions, fans will need to wait until the season opener in Melbourne to get a true picture of Mercedes’ competitiveness against rivals Ferrari and Red Bull.
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