George Russell sees significant threats to Mercedes from Red Bull's Max Verstappen and McLaren at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Mercedes debuted their most significant package of updates for four months, but Russell says these improvements were 'trumped' by high tyre degradation. Russell finished second to Verstappen in opening practice, but he and Kimi Antonelli slipped to seventh and eighth respectively.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc set the pace, while Verstappen was just two tenths off the pace in fourth. Russell said it had been a challenging day for the world championship leaders, citing tyre deg as a major issue. Mercedes' aerodynamic upgrade includes changes to the W17's floor and rear suspension.
Russell added that they need to make set-up adjustments to get on top of the tyre degradation. When asked if Mercedes would be pole contenders, Russell replied that Verstappen looks very fast and McLaren's race pace looked very quick, but 'never say never'.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing