Backlog of Red Bull explains in Spain: 'Drove with less power'

At Mercedes they had to look twice at the timesheet, because after the second free practice George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were on P2 and P3. Russell, however, does not want to celebrate too soon.

In Miami, the Mercedes drivers also had a good Friday and the team seemed competitive, but then the performance during the rest of the weekend was disappointing. That makes Russell cautious after the second free practice in Spain. Although he finished in second place behind Charles Leclerc, he knows that anything can still happen.

''I don't know to be honest. In Miami we were the fastest on Friday and here we are now second. The car obviously reacts differently. We have different limits this time, the porpoising we don't have now on the straight,'' the Mercedes driver told Sky Sports. Completely gone, according to Russell, it is not yet.

''We do still suffer from it in corners, and you need to get that out eventually. Red Bull still looks very strong. They are the team to consider if you look at the data. Ferrari and Red Bull drove on the lowest engine setting here, so it's hard to predict,'' the Briton concludes.