Sky Sports pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz has suggested George Russell is a "fool" for his complaints about limited Formula 1 pre-season testing.
F1 teams were permitted just three days to test their new vehicles in Bahrain before lights out on the new season this weekend. The testing time has become a key talking point ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, with many in the paddock arguing that they have not had a sufficient period to learn properly about their latest challenger.
And Mercedes driver Russell voiced his concerns upon the unveiling of his team's W14 last month, lamenting an inevitable lack of practice ahead of the 2023 campaign.
Russell, who has since admitted is expecting a "challenging" race weekend in Bahrain, was adamant there should be testing changes as he made a surprise comparison with tennis icon Rafael Nadal.
"Personally speaking, I don't think three days is enough, because you have got to remember from a driver's perspective, that is one and a half days per driver," he said. "We were fortunate to do the [filming days] last week, but had we not, that would have been getting on for 12 weeks out of the car from Abu Dhabi to Bahrain.
"Could you imagine Rafael Nadal spending 12 weeks without hitting a ball and then going straight into the French Open with one and a half days of training? You know it just wouldn't ever happen."
Kravitz, however, believes such uncertainty with team performance makes for a more exciting product come the start of the season. The prominent pundit understands Russell's frustrations, but does not see a problem with drivers coming in "undercooked" with the current testing schedule.
"[Russell] is a driver, so he wants more practice, which is valid," Kravitz explained on the Sky Sports F1 Vodcast. "The engineers want more so they can do their engineering things, which is not valid. It's interesting because they will all get to the first race slightly undercooked, apart from Red Bull.
"But it's much better for us viewers, us fans, to get to the first race and have something going on rather than a procession."
He added: "Anyone who said that 'three days of testing was not enough' is a fool, basically. Because it was enough, there was loads of running, people doing three Grand Prix distances because the reliability was so good. So, it is fine."
