George Russell and Mercedes seeking better ‘headline’ times at Australian Grand Prix

The first two practice sessions of Formula 1 season are featured in the book, with all 10 teams pouring data in search of improved lap times.

The two sessions on Friday were like mixed bags for Mercedes. Both George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimmi Antoneri showed strong paces on longer runs with stiffer C3 and C4 tire compounds, but their one-lap pace was what their rivals showed on Friday. Russell finished FP1 with P7, while Antonelli was on P14 on the timing sheet.

Both drivers returned to the board on FP2, with Russell down to P10 and Antonelli down to P16.

These “headline” times show that Mercedes is doing some kind of work ahead of Saturday's qualifying, but the data from the long run is much more encouraging. During FP1, Russell ran an expanded stint with C4 medium compounds, with times ranging from 1:22.194 to 1:23.341. These lap times were thinner than those Max Verstappen posted in a similar run with the same compound during FP1. F1 tempo:

During FP2, Russell puts together long runs with the C3 hard compound, posting consistent times ranging from 1:21.739 to 1:22.244.

“It was an interesting day of the season,” Russell said in his team's post-session report. “We looked at hard and medium compounds especially quickly. The overall balance of the car felt strong.

“The softer tires didn't improve as much as you would expect.

“It's something we'll evaluate overnight, but if today's truck temperatures exceed 40°C, it could have played a role. It encourages cars have an inherent pace, as we saw with C3 and C4 compounds,” Russell added. “Our focus is unlocking that pace across all three tire compounds and we hope we can do that tomorrow.”

Antonelli described Friday as the “positive” first day.

“It was the day before the season. Overall, I was pleased with how everything went. The rookie driver said: “It's good in the long run at FP2 and provides a strong platform for the rest of the weekend.

“There's something we need to do with a single lap to find a little more performance. This is primarily linked to something that focuses on putting the tires in the right window and overnight improvements, Antonelli added.

The team's Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin praised the performance of the stiffer compounds, but noted that when the team comes to the “headline” era, they need to find more performance.

“The car was behaving well, especially in the long run. Also, the C3 and C4 compounds have become hard,” Shovlin said. “Looking at the headline times, there's something we need to do to improve single-lap performance with soft compounds ahead of qualifying. We already have some focus, so I'm sure we can take steps to do that overnight.”

Neither Shovlin nor Antonelli were prepared to predict the hierarchy in Melbourne.

“It's a bit too early to predict relative performance. We didn't know what the other teams were doing, so it offset today's tire strategy,” Antonelli said. “The car felt good, so we'll see what we can do in qualifying tomorrow.”

“It looks close between several teams in front, as expected ahead of the weekend,” Shovlin added. “It's difficult to predict the relative order, as the tyre selection in the FP2 was slightly offset.

“But what we can say is that even a small improvement is likely to make a huge difference.”