Mercedes’ new W17 ran consistently and reliably over its three days of running in the first pre-season test this week, covering 2,325 kilometres.

But while the team’s strong start caught the eye of many, George Russell says he was impressed by the performance of several of their rivals.

“On the power unit side there’s some impressive things from some of our competitors and that’s quite surprising to be honest,” he told the official Formula 1 channel, “so well done to them.”

F1 teams are grappling with the first change to the series’ power unit regulations in 12 years. Newcomers Audi and Red Bull-Ford are running their first F1 power units and Honda have returned with Aston Martin, whose car hit the track for the first time yesterday.

“Obviously we’re three days into a 24-race season, so you don’t want to [read] too much into that,” Russell continued. “But I think a lot of people anticipated the new power unit suppliers to be sort of struggling and whatnot, and they’ve had a good test as well. So that’s good for them, but for us time will tell.”

Mercedes concluded its first pre-season test yesterday. Russell acknowledged they had made a positive start.

“The car so far has been working well,” he said, “but it’s not about how well it works, it’s about how quick it goes around the track and we don’t really have an indication of that at the moment.

“We’re in a reasonably good place but I’m sure things are going to change a lot between now and the next Bahrain test and then I’m sure people can be bringing upgrades to the car, so it’s still very, very much early days.”

After four years of F1’s ‘ground effect’ regulations, Russell says the new generation of cars feel much more comfortable for drivers. “The car is feeling nice to drive,” he said. “No major issues, no porpoising – which is pretty good news for all of us, it will save us a few years on the back, so all in all a decent few days.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

Formula 1

Browse all Formula 1 articles