Mercedes made a very strong statement during Thursday’s practice sessions at the Baku City Circuit. George Russell topped the times in both sessions, with the first non-Mercedes car almost a second adrift at the end of the day (Max Verstappen at 0.827s).
Mercedes will introduce its long-awaited upgrade package for the W17 in Malaysia, but even without new parts on the car, rivals have been highly impressed by Russell’s pace.
Red Bull can count on the final major upgrade package for the RB22 this week, but technical director Pierre Waché admits he had not expected such a large deficit to the Mercedes works team.
