Hamilton And Russell With Contrasting Feelings After FP2 Session In Azerbaijan

Friday, 13 September 2024 at 22:00

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell expressed contrasting feelings after the second practice session in Azerbaijan.

The first day of practice sessions was quite different for the two Mercedes drivers. While Lewis Hamilton looked quite competitive, matching times at the top of timing sheets, George Russell struggled with technical issues as well as confidence in the car.

Mercedes found an anomaly in the oil analysis conducted on the 26-year-old's power unit after the first practice session and, as a precautionary measure, changed his engine (for one from his pool).

This, however, took more time than expected, and as a consequence, Russell didn't have as much on-track time as his seven-time World Champion teammate.

According to Motorsport.com, the media asked George Russell after the second practice session whether his F1 team had already found out the reason for the issue with his power unit, and he responded:

"For now, no. Not too sure exactly, we just knew we had to change the engine. So we had a problem after FP1, obviously delayed the session and then we also had a problem at the end of the session too."

While Russell struggled, he was aware that his teammate Lewis Hamilton was doing much better. In FP1, they finished second and eighth, and in FP2, they finished third and ninth. The 26-year-old F1 driver continued:

"It wasn’t our finest Friday, that is for sure, but Lewis is looking quick out there so we know the car is capable of something strong, but once again Ferrari look really, really strong around here – they always seem to be fast in Baku."

"I was struggling, I was definitely off the pace compared to Lewis. I was really struggling with confidence in the car and getting my tyres in the right window so I need to try and step up my game a little bit for tomorrow and try and close the gap."

Lewis Hamilton driving his Mercedes over the white and red curb at the Baku City Circuit during golden hour, with advertising banners visible in the background.

Lewis Hamilton during Friday's practice session at Baku City Circuit

What did Hamilton say after FP2 in Baku?

The 39-year-old Briton looked quite confident on the dirty and slippery track in his Mercedes. Though he complained about the windshield and hot seat (which seems to persist since the 2024 Italian Grand Prix), he was generally quite satisfied with his two practice sessions.

"It was a really good day. I enjoyed today, I hit the ground running from the get-go and made incremental steps with the set-up – and for once felt like we didn't have steps that we had to come back on, it was consistently building."

In terms of which teams he thought looked like the main players for this weekend, Hamilton mentioned Red Bull (which was the fastest in FP1) and Ferrari (which was the fastest in FP2).

"I don't know how my long run is compared to others but we didn't get a huge amount of laps. Yeah, I think Red Bull seem pretty quick, as does the Ferrari, but we are there or thereabouts."

The seven-time World Champion also pointed out how other teams seem to get faster between the last practice session and qualifying, but he doesn't think that's the case with Mercedes. As it stands, Hamilton remains positive but cautious as he added:

"On this day you don’t know what fuel loads everyone is on and often when we get to P3 or particularly when we get to qualifying everyone takes a step and we haven’t so far, we haven’t always."

"I think we will stay cautious and just try to do the best we can with what we have, I hope we are closer to the front than it seems maybe but we will find out tomorrow."