\n<\/p>\n
Russell and team boss Toto Wolff were downplaying expectations of Mercedes, saying it was impossible to know at this stage which team was the most competitive.<\/p>\n
“It’s still very early days but, quoting Toto, it doesn’t look like it’s a turd, which is a bonus,” Russell said.<\/p>\n
“In the early days like this, you know when it could be a really bad car and you can sort of highlight those negatives early on.<\/p>\n
“We don’t believe it is, but is it a car that can produce a world championship? It’s still way too early to say.”<\/p>\n
Wolff added: “We don’t have really a performance picture yet because we haven’t seen Max driving the car fast and we haven’t seen McLaren and Ferrari doing what they can do. So I would carefully refrain from saying that was great for us. We simply don’t know.”<\/p>\n
Russell, who said he felt ready to fight for a title, was generally positive about the new generation of cars.<\/p>\n
They are smaller and lighter than last year’s, while energy management is a much bigger factor in performance now that there is a 50-50 split between the power provided from the internal combustion engine and the hybrid system.<\/p>\n
“The faster driver will be the one who still comes out on top. I don’t think it will be an engineering race from the cockpit,” said Russell, who is partnered by Italian Kimi Antonelli for a second season, while Dane Frederik Vesti has become Mercedes’ official third driver.<\/p>\n
“Definitely still is Formula 1, it still very much feels like a race car and you’re still very much pushing the limits but you are driving it differently.”<\/p>\n
Wolff added: “They look spectacular. They look like Formula 1 cars now again. They’re not too small, they’re not too big, they’re not like the whales of the past. The aesthetics are very good.<\/p>\n
“And that is super-exciting, where and when and how a driver is going to deploy it and optimise that. We are going to see much more overtaking. We’re going to see it in areas that we wouldn’t expect it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n