2024 Bahrain Test, Day 1 - Jiri Krenek

After the first day of pre-season testing, George Russell said the new W15 feels “nicer to drive than last year’s car” and is happy about how the day went.

Despite some issues with the hybrid system, Mercedes still completed a lot of laps, 121. The Briton admitted that, compared to last year, the W15 already feels better to drive and it is a good starting point.

“Overall, the W15 does feel nicer to drive than last year’s car,” he said.

“From hitting the ground, it felt like we had a good foundation to start from.

“We completed lots of laps and have plenty of data to go through tonight. We ended the day in a reasonably good spot, and we can build from here over the next two days.

“We will be focused on maximizing mileage for learning, rather than chasing an optimum sweet spot with the car.

“It was a positive first day, and I’m looking forward to being back in the car on Friday.”

By looking at some data, Russell completed a great long run on medium tires, during which his times were very consistent. Of course, it would be interesting to compare it to other long runs from other drivers. However, since we don’t know how much fuel they used or what engine mode they were in, we just focused on the fact that his lap times were very consistent.

Consistency is an important element in understanding how good a car is and how tire management works. Russell also did another long run on hard tires, and the result was the same: great consistency. Thus, it seems that, as the driver said, this car is a good foundation to start from.

Whether it will be competitive or not compared to other outfits we will only see next week.