Mercedes set to challenge at the front in China: 'Pace was quite good'
F1 News
For Mercedes the race weekend in China did not start as they would have hoped, with George Russell moving up one spot only in the Sprint for which the Briton had previouly seen himself with 'a shot' at the win, and with Andrea Kimi Antonelli finishing in the same position he started the short race in, however, they are confident they can have a better result in what's left of the weekend.
'The race can go either way'
"It was all about tyres to be honest," said Russell to Sky Sports, mirroring the statements of his competitors up and down the paddock. "You saw Lewis (Hamilton, sprint race winner, ed.,) was under a bit of pressure but then he kept the tyres alive and then dropped everybody."
According to the Mercedes team lead, the W16's pace is good around the Shanghai International Circuit. "Mid-race I felt quite comfortable, only four seconds ahead of Charles, four seconds behind Oscar and then suddenly I'm catching those guys, I’m like, here we go, I’m looking in my mirrors a bit, 'is Charles catching me or not?'." Does Mercedes have a chance to vy for the top prizes in what's left of the weekend? "Let’s see, I think it can go any way."
'W16's pace was quite good'
For Antonelli, though, the race proved to be more difficult, with the Italian youngster unable to make his way past Racing Bulls driver, Yuki Tsunoda. "Well, definitely, (the sprint, ed.,) it was a good learning," said Antonelli to Sky Sports. "Also staying stuck behind a car for the whole race with the dirty air really hurt the tyres. I felt pace was actually quite good, especially in the early stages," added Antonelli.
"I think that lap one really defined the rest of the race, just because I really struggled with the overheating and I struggled to turn the car in low speed. So definitely, I think [the] dirty air was playing a really big factor, but definitely good learning ahead of tomorrow," concluded the Mercedes rookie.