Russell: "It doesn’t matter what it looks like; we need to see if it’s fast

So the rumours that were already circulating in Barcelona turned out to be true after all. Mercedes appeared with a different W13 in Bahrain. The striking thing about the new car are the side pods that have almost completely disappeared. Russell already joked about it and said that the W13 was put on a diet between the test weeks. Formula1.com said that Russell is actually most concerned about the speed of the car and that how it looks doesn't matter much to him.

Russell doesn't care what W13 looks like

"He does look interesting," Russell began. "But it's not about how it looks, it's about how fast it goes. So I don't think much else about it. Of course, he certainly caught some looks this morning. I can only be proud to be part of this team." The Briton closed his speech by reiterating that it doesn't matter what the W13 looks like now, what matters is how fast it is on track.

During the first day of testing in Bahrain, there was no telling how fast the W13 is with the new design. In all likelihood, Russell and Lewis Hamilton went mainly for mileage on the first day to gather as much useful data as possible. Russell drove the fastest lap of the two drivers and reached the tenth spot on the timesheet with a medium tire.