George Russell is most impressed with Alfa Romeo after rating Williams’ main competitor after Formula 1 testing in Bahrain.
Alfa Romeo completed 422 laps on the three days of testing – together with AlphaTauri, the most laps that a single team completed.
Kimi Raikkonen had a strong last day in the car as he completed 166 laps in the C41 on the way to the fourth-fastest overall standings on the last day.
Williams often fought Haas and Alfa Romeo in 2020. However, Russell believes Alfa has taken a step forward in 2021 and noted Raikkonen’s impressive turn on the third day in Bahrain.
“Yes, Kimi looked very, very fast today,” Russell said after the third day of pre-season testing in Bahrain. “I have to give him credit, I have to dig deeper into the data, but I’d say they look like the most surprising team at the moment.
“I can’t honestly tell you where we are in comparison because I had only been driving an hour and a half and was in debriefing literally until eight thirty. But at first glance, Kimi looked very, very fast today. “
On the subject of matching items
McLaren’s Lando Norris believes Mercedes is on its rearfoot for the season after battling for mileage while the W12 looked difficult to drive on the track.
Russell – a Mercedes junior driver – remains confident that Mercedes will change things.
“To be honest, no,” added Russell. Right now I’m just focusing on us. I didn’t really look at the guys upstairs. You know I asked her how to do it. But they are Mercedes. They’ll be fine. I’m pretty confident about that. “
