Russell surprised: 'Ferrari and Red Bull have taken a step forwards'

George Russell noticed that Mercedes were struggling on the first day of the Italian Grand Prix. While the German team was briefly in contention for victory at Zandvoort last week, the gap to Ferrari and Red Bull Racing widened again at Monza.

The Briton did manage to finish third and fifth on Friday, but the gap between him and his two rivals was clearly noticeable. In the second free practice session the difference between Carlos Sainz, who took first place, and Russell was seven tenths, which is not easy to make up.

Russell sees Mercedes losing time to rivals

Lewis Hamilton was even looking at a gap of over eight tenths, which means Mercedes know they need to work hard in the coming hours to get a good start in qualifying. Speaking to Sky Sports, Russel sounds realistic about his chances in the GP weekend.

"We started off quite well, but Ferrari and Red Bull have taken a step forwards - or maybe we've taken a step back," he analysed the situation to the English medium. "We were obviously behind a McLaren so a bit of work is needed to understand that."