Russell pinpoints strongest teams in Barcelona: 'We're not here for that'

Whereas Daniel Ricciardo does not yet dare to make a prediction, George Russell does clearly identify two teams that currently stand out. It is still early in the season, but McLaren and Ferrari seem to have good papers in 2022.

Ferrari and Mercedes are in good shape

Red Bull Racing and Mercedes were at the top of Formula 1 in recent years, but with a fierce title fight in 2021, there was perhaps a little less focus on 2022. McLaren and Ferrari were able to take advantage of that as superpowers, as they were not in contention for the world title.

Ricciardo thinks it is still early to make a ranking after the first days of testing, but Russell does point out the best competitors equally. ''Some teams are looking fast, a red team and an orange team look competitive. We're certainly not ahead, pretty sure of that. They seem to have things well under control, they look strong low fuel, high fuel and tyre management,'' the Brit says to Sky Sports.

Problems at Mercedes

Russell also knows that at the moment it is still difficult to assess how all the teams are doing because of the different programs being run, but in general he believes Mercedes is behind. ''The Championship is not won in Barcelona winter testing, but it's been an intriguing two days.''

Mercedes is not at all satisfied with the first days of testing, as the porpoising that has returned to Formula 1 is most prevalent with Mercedes. The W13 bounces around the track, where other teams suffer much less from this. Russell does not like this and argues that F1 should look at the safety aspect.