It was a busy Friday in the first two free practice sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix of Formula 1, and George Russell admitted surprise at McLaren’s performance in the sessions. The Mercedes driver highlighted the pace of the competing team after FP2 at Suzuka, where Oscar Piastri led the session.
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McLaren interrupted Mercedes’ initial dominance in the 2026 season with the best lap of the day. Piastri surpassed Kimi Antonelli by just 0s092, while Russell finished third, 0s205 behind the Australian, indicating a more balanced battle for the rest of the weekend.
Russell acknowledged that McLaren’s performance was not entirely expected: “McLaren was very quick, so that was a bit surprising, to be honest. We still have some improvements to make, so there’s work for tonight,” he said after FP2.
The British team’s performance was even more relevant considering that Lando Norris, Piastri’s teammate, faced problems. The current champion lost almost half the session due to a hydraulic leak, but still finished in fourth position. Ferrari was further back, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton closing FP2 in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Russell highlighted that McLaren’s performance seems consistent: “I don’t see why it wouldn’t be genuine. Lando had a disrupted day, but Oscar was very strong from the first lap,” he said, also showing confidence in improvement for the rest of the weekend.
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According to Russell, there is still room for improvement, especially in energy management: “We’ll find out in the qualifying session. I think we have more to offer and things weren’t totally optimized, especially on my side with energy management. I hope we can improve tomorrow,” he added.
Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, also commented on Friday’s performance. He classified the day as productive, highlighting that the team managed to complete the planned program and collect important data for the race.
Shovlin also emphasized that Suzuka presents specific challenges, mainly in energy management during fast laps: “This circuit is quite challenging from an energy perspective, especially on a single lap. We lost some time in the final chicane and that’s something we’re going to try to improve for tomorrow,” he said.
Despite strong competition, the director evaluated the situation positively: “In terms of pace, it seems we’re in a reasonable position, although McLaren and Ferrari have shown impressive times. We’re not underestimating anyone,” he concluded, adding that Mercedes worked with all three tire compounds and intends to seek improvements during the night.
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