“Mercedes clearly didn’t change”

Even the bookmakers don’t consider Mercedes to be the main driver at the season opener.

George Russell still held a good half-second behind Max Verstappen, who proved to be the fastest in the second free practice, but Lewis Hamilton’s disadvantage crawled for 1.2 seconds and he couldn’t find the balance of the car in the evening practice after the first. Mercedes is constantly bouncing off the asphalt, but it still shouldn’t be made clear that this is all that Toto Wolff’s guard would be capable of.

Hamilton suffered spectacularly in both training sessions on Friday – is he so sleepy, or are the rivals that good?

Damon Hill brushed his opinion off the Sky Sports columns at the end of the second workout. “It was very likely that they made a big change in their cars between the two free practice sessions, which is why they came out on the track later. But it is clear to me that this change did not come. The internal camera image showed the level at which Lewis’s car was shaking. ”

“The situation didn’t seem so dangerous for George Russell, he wasn’t so affected by the problem. But if the two cars roll on the track with the same setting, then one produces the problem on the track and the other doesn’t, it’s clear that the problem is team-level and very much in existence, ”Hill added.

In contrast, they are still satisfied at the big rival Red Bull barn. “We had a really positive day. In both warmer and cooler conditions, the car behaved well on the track in both the short and long stages, we did great rides. Of course, we don’t know who went with what engine settings, fuel level, the form shown by rivals depends on a lot of things. On the other hand, we at Red Bull are very pleased with what we have seen today, ”said team leader Christian Horner.

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