Russell and crew boss Toto Wolff have been downplaying expectations of Mercedes, saying it was unimaginable to know at this stage which crew was essentially the most aggressive.
“It is nonetheless very early days however, quoting Toto, it would not seem like it is a turd, which is a bonus,” Russell stated.
“Within the early days like this, you recognize when it might be a very dangerous automobile and you’ll form of spotlight these negatives early on.
“We do not imagine it’s, however is it a automobile that may produce a world championship? It is nonetheless means too early to say.”
Wolff added: “We do not have actually a efficiency image but as a result of we have not seen Max driving the automobile quick and we’ve not seen McLaren and Ferrari doing what they will do. So I’d fastidiously chorus from saying that was nice for us. We merely do not know.”
Russell, who stated he felt able to combat for a title, was usually optimistic in regards to the new era of automobiles.
They’re smaller and lighter than final yr’s, whereas power administration is a a lot greater think about efficiency now that there’s a 50-50 break up between the ability supplied from the inner combustion engine and the hybrid system.
“The sooner driver would be the one who nonetheless comes out on high. I do not assume it will likely be an engineering race from the cockpit,” stated Russell, who’s partnered by Italian Kimi Antonelli for a second season, whereas Dane Frederik Vesti has turn into Mercedes’ official third driver.
“Positively nonetheless is System 1, it nonetheless very a lot seems like a race automobile and you are still very a lot pushing the boundaries however you’re driving it otherwise.”
Wolff added: “They appear spectacular. They seem like System 1 automobiles now once more. They don’t seem to be too small, they don’t seem to be too large, they don’t seem to be just like the whales of the previous. The aesthetics are superb.
“And that’s super-exciting, the place and when and the way a driver goes to deploy it and optimise that. We’re going to see way more overtaking. We’ll see it in areas that we would not count on it.”
