The car's performance has correlated with the data from the wind tunnel and the changes made to the car through the second week all worked satisfactorily. "I think we will be close enough to be in the hunt," Ricciardo said, though team-mate Max Verstappen appeared more guarded, perhaps more eager for a championship-winning car from the get-go after re-committing to Red Bull six months ago. However, the fact Mercedes didn't even feel compelled to complete any low-fuel runs perhaps says it all. There's all sorts of reasons to be cautious - but this has been a good winter test."
#Mercedes f1 2018 drivers#
"Both drivers seem to like the car, it responds well to set-up changes and has shown a good turn of speed. The cautious optimism from technical chief James Allison was also telling. "We definitely think it is going to be a three-team battle," Bottas said, while Hamilton practically called on their rivals to bring on the battle. As has become the norm, Mercedes completed the most laps of anyone over the two tests - and they were the only team to break the 1,000 barrier - reporting the W09 ran "without any significant reliability difficulties".īut even if they are expected to be ahead in Australia, Ferrari and Red Bull could still be within striking range. I guess if it didn’t work out I’d potentially be regretting it, but it worked out.The headline times didn't show it, but the long runs completed by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas on the final two days - principally on the medium tyre - were consistent and fast in equal measure. "I was a 17 year old and you had to take that risk. At Mercedes, there was a chance for Formula One, at BMW there was not. With the certainty that he could start earning a sky-high salary at BMW, Russell had to make a choice. BMW, however, wanted clarity from Russell before Mercedes would finally speak up. However, the point was that Mercedes said, there is a chance we may not end up choosing you, but there is also a chance that we will. If he signed with BMW, there would be no future opportunities with Mercedes. He was being pressured into talks with Mercedes. Russell was in the bath when he received a call from Gwen Lagrue, Mercedes' development advisor. Russell was about to sign a lucrative contract, but the Mercedes option came up again. He even tested a DTM car for the team already and he even proved to be faster than one of BMW's factory drivers who was the reference at the time. Russell could earn a huge amount of money for his age in the DTM. Russell's good performance that year (2015) also caught the eye of BMW. In the end, Russell was right after all as he finished sixth in the final standings and was only ahead of Charles Leclerc in the rookie standings. "So he replied back, ‘I think you’re making a wrong decision but let’s stay in touch and let’s see where we go from there.’"
#Mercedes f1 2018 driver#
Read more Wolff on Hamilton: "Indictment for F1 if best driver quits" Marcin Budkowski leaves Alpine: Is Otmar Szafnauer on his way? The Austrian F1 team boss responded promptly. Russell decided to send Wolff an email thanking him for the opportunity. His feeling with the British Carlin was a lot better. Russell didn't have such a good feeling about that, especially since it would be his first year in Formula 3. "But because there wasn’t an opportunity open at PREMA, the next team I would have had to join would be a German team called Mücke Motorsport," Russell said. Read more Russell expects difficult season: 'That's going to be key'