Russell reveals Mercedes made experiments for 2025 on the opening day in Abu Dhabi

Three-time F1 race winner George Russell has revealed that Mercedes made experiments for the upcoming season on the opening day at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Mercedes looked brutally quick over a single lap last time out in Qatar, but the team appears to lack pace at the Yas Marina Circuit. The first practice session took place saw Lewis Hamilton take P3 while his team-mate George Lewis finished close behind in P4.

However, the second one-hour session was staged under floodlights in very different conditions, and Hamilton dropped back to P5. Russell seemed to struggle for the ideal balance over a single flying lap, and took only P13.

The three-time F1 race winner has acknowledged that while he appeared to struggle for pace on the opening day at the Yas Marina Circuit, it was mainly down to the fact that he tried out a series of "radical" set-up options in a bid to gain experience for the upcoming season.

"Today was a bit of a struggle, but it’s only Friday. We were also trying a lot of different things today in preparation for next year as obviously this is our last opportunity to do so.

"We therefore wanted to go a little more radical with the set-up options, see if there’s anything more we can learn, and test things to develop our learnings and understanding for 2025.

"As we saw, Lewis did some great laps today. Still, as a team, we don’t seem to be on the pace of the very front runners on a single lap. McLaren in particular look to be in a league of their own at the moment and their pace in both sessions showed that again today.

"Tomorrow, I expect the Ferraris to be back in the mix but I’m hoping we can make some improvements overnight and have a more competitive showing than today," concluded Russell.