Russell to drive for Mercedes

[Mr Pointy]

Well at least as a rookie in the Bahrain test (assuming it's not an April Fool post):

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/george-russell-...

It's bit cruel really: "here, have a go in a real F1 car".

[Munter]

He's one of their "academy" or whatever they call it drivers. I half assume if Hamilton or Bottas can't drive for some reason, George would be bumped up out of the Williams, and Ocon taking Georges seat.

[Vaud]

Mr Pointy said:

Well at least as a rookie in the Bahrain test (assuming it's not an April Fool post):

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/george-russell-...

It's bit cruel really: "here, have a go in a real F1 car".

Or could be great. "guys, I've found the problem - we have been running the Merc in valet mode"




* Valet mode limits top speed and power delivery - and is more common on US cars

[Stan the Bat]

Would have thought that Ocon might be ahead of Russell for a go.

[Kraken]

Ocon doesn't count as a rookie so with Russell they can use on of their rookie only test days.

[Stan the Bat]

Ah, thanks.

[wibble cb]

Kraken said:

Ocon doesn't count as a rookie so with Russell they can use on of their rookie only test days.

You sure, I’ve seen Ocon drive....

[TheDeuce]

Certainly going to be good to see how Russell does in a competitive car.

Going to make getting back in the Williams a bit depressing afterwards..

[The Moose]

I thought that was April Fools for a minute!

[sideways man]

There’s a bit of reverse deja vu here; Damon Hill testing for Williams in a car which won the championship next year, while his day job was racing the Brabham,which struggled to qualify!

[rallycross]

TheDeuce said:

Certainly going to be good to see how Russell does in a competitive car.

Going to make getting back in the Williams a bit depressing afterwards..

He will be in the top 3 or 4 of the times in that car, he's a class driver.

It will be a positive help for him to have this in season test and take what he's learned back to Williams (he can point to the deficiencies of the Williams and point out that in a decent car he is right up there on the times).

I suspect if you put Kubica in the Mercedes or Ferrari he would also be at the top 4 of the timing screen.

[thegreenhell]

He's driven Mercedes and Force India cars during in-season tests and FP1 over the last couple of years, so he'll already have a good idea of what a good F1 car should feel like. It will be useful to have a direct back-to-back comparison of the best and worst F1 cars of the moment, though.

[TheDeuce]

rallycross said:

TheDeuce said:

Certainly going to be good to see how Russell does in a competitive car.

Going to make getting back in the Williams a bit depressing afterwards..

He will be in the top 3 or 4 of the times in that car, he's a class driver.

It will be a positive help for him to have this in season test and take what he's learned back to Williams (he can point to the deficiencies of the Williams and point out that in a decent car he is right up there on the times).

I suspect if you put Kubica in the Mercedes or Ferrari he would also be at the top 4 of the timing screen.

Yes, it should certainly be easier for him to pinpoint what feels wrong on the Williams having driven the 2019 Mercedes.

I'm still unconvinced by Kubica's race pace.. He was slower than Russell in Bahrain by half a second per lap. I know there are supposedly some different characteristics between the two cars so a bit early to form a strong opinion either way. I agree about Russell - think he's very quick. Kubica may also still be very quick but for me there remains a question mark...

[Deesee]

Russell has been driving Kubica's car this morning in the test, he's 3/10ths of Kyvat and 4/10th of Alonso. but 3 seconds off Grosgean.

[TheDeuce]

Deesee said:

Russell has been driving Kubica's car this morning in the test, he's 3/10ths of Kyvat and 4/10th of Alonso. but 3 seconds off Grosgean.

Would be very interesting to see the comparative pace each achieves in the same car. I assume this won't be reported on though? - Never really paid much attention to in-season testing before.

[Deesee]

TheDeuce said:

Deesee said:

Russell has been driving Kubica's car this morning in the test, he's 3/10ths of Kyvat and 4/10th of Alonso. but 3 seconds off Grosgean.

Would be very interesting to see the comparative pace each achieves in the same car. I assume this won't be reported on though? - Never really paid much attention to in-season testing before.

We will see if there is a fundamental problem with the car (seemed to be lapping ok this morning), or if Kubica just is not quick enough, bit of a litmus test eh.

https://www.gptoday.net/en/live/f1/246365/live-upd...

[TheDeuce]

Deesee said:

TheDeuce said:

Deesee said:

Russell has been driving Kubica's car this morning in the test, he's 3/10ths of Kyvat and 4/10th of Alonso. but 3 seconds off Grosgean.

Would be very interesting to see the comparative pace each achieves in the same car. I assume this won't be reported on though? - Never really paid much attention to in-season testing before.

We will see if there is a fundamental problem with the car (seemed to be lapping ok this morning), or if Kubica just is not quick enough, bit of a litmus test eh.

https://www.gptoday.net/en/live/f1/246365/live-upd...

Excellent - thank you!

This will be revealing - unless the comparison is skewed by continued rain. Hopefully not..

[Kraken]

It's not so much that there is a problem with one car it's that both cars should respond in the same way to the same changes but they don't. They behave like different cars. As both drivers have said it might mean one car is the better one at one race and the other is the better at the next race. Until they have both cars responding the way they should it's hard to compare the drivers unless they drive the same car in the same session.

There's not much point in comparing lap times to Alonso as he's running Pirelli tyre tests under their setup guidance as, I believe, are Torro Rosso.

[TheDeuce]

Kraken said:

It's not so much that there is a problem with one car it's that both cars should respond in the same way to the same changes but they don't. They behave like different cars. As both drivers have said it might mean one car is the better one at one race and the other is the better at the next race. Until they have both cars responding the way they should it's hard to compare the drivers unless they drive the same car in the same session.

There's not much point in comparing lap times to Alonso as he's running Pirelli tyre tests under their setup guidance as, I believe, are Torro Rosso.

But in this test they are both using the same car I believe.

Kubica has so far not exceeded Russells pace at all, the closest he got was to match it during last weeks qualifying. There are some signs that his race pace is poor compared to Russell, although as you say, there is the question of differences in the two cars which makes it difficult to form an opinion.

This test could at least show if the differences in the cars alone is enough to excuse Kubica's half second per lap gap. Depending on what they're testing of course... although I would think Williams would themselves want to know if the gap is really down to the cars or the drivers.

[TheDeuce]

Just glanced back at the live feed, tracks dry now and Kubica is out in the Williams - no time just yet, but it looks like the session will be extended for a couple of hours (hopefully), as so much time was lost to rain.