Russell breaks through in Canada: ‘My first time on top all year'

00:47, 14 Jun

bySavannah Lenz

George Russell topped the second practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix. After the conclusion of FP2, he spoke to F1 TV and explained his thoughts about the race weekend.

Russell was 0.028s ahead of McLaren driver Lando Norris at the end of FP2.

When asked how it felt to be on top, he said, “It's nice. It might be my first time topping a leaderboard of the whole year, 10 races in. Obviously, it was a very positive day.”

Mercedes attempts to maximise 'cold' track

However, it's not all smooth sailing for Mercedes as Russell reveals they expected to do even better.

“We had higher expectations coming into this weekend because of the cooler conditions. The track's quite smooth, so the tyres naturally run quite cold, and we know our weakness, which is when it's hot, we struggle when it's cold, and the tyres run cold, we're pretty competitive.”

Nevertheless, he admits his P1 “was definitely validation today.”

“We're trying to maximise this weekend. My lap was really strong today, probably optimised, so there's nothing more in the tank there. We had it all on the table: full beams, power, and all that.”

George Russell during FP2 for the Canadian Grand Prix

When it was mentioned that he was on the negative side of things, Russell said, “You gotta be a bit realistic.”

“We'll see tomorrow. Again, clearly a number of teams are thinking about this medium tire as well, so come qualifying, do you go on the soft?, Do you go on the medium? That's one of the challenges we've had so far with this C6 compound."

Many drivers have struggled with their tyres this weekend. Franco Colapinto spun in both practice sessions, while some lock-ups have caused drivers such as Charles Leclerc to crash.