Mercedes drivers not happy following FP2: "Just having to be patient"

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton sounded rather pessimistic in their interviews to Sky Sports following today's free practice sessions, as both drivers struggled once more. Russell finished 5th in FP2, while Hamilton dropped down to 11th place.

Russell's uncertainity:

The British driver was unsure about where his team stands at the moment, following the two sessions. "To be honest, I think I’m not sure what power load everybody was running and that’s always something in, in practice sessions for sure, Red Bull are, you know, out front, but we were going through and learning lots of things and you know, those things that will help in the short term, medium term and just need to do the things overnight to see what we can do for this weekend, in particular," he said.

He also commented that Mercedes is "probably a bit closer" compared to their pace in Bahrain, but this are "short-term fixes" at the moment.

"But for me this weekend, sort of a small group of engineers, you just go out there and try and try and maximise what you’ve got," Russell concluded the goals for the team this weekend.

Hamilton's disappointment:

The seven-time champion's voice implied everything about how he felt about these two practice sessions.

He said: "(It's) pretty much the same (as FP1). So a second off or whatever it was. But for me, I definitely struggled in the session, struggle in both sessions.

"We just continue to go into the details, trying to improve the balance of the car to make it easier to drive. I mean, it’s just a tough car to drive, but I know everyone’s working so hard at the factory. So it’s just a matter of time just having to be patient.”

Furthermore, Hamilton was not as optimistic about the team's improvements and answered whether is Mercedes closer than they were last year in just five words.

"It’s pretty much the same."