"It's too much effort" - Mercedes driver on 'mind games' with McLaren

Mercedes driver George Russell claims he does not wish to play mind games with McLaren driver Lando Norris. Each driver was trying to draw media attention away from their respective teams ahead of the new season.

Russell praised McLaren and Ferrari for their 2022 cars, which were highly competent throughout the testing period in Barcelona. The Briton claimed that the two teams were ahead in development when compared to his Mercedes W13, which ended up going fastest overall at the end of the testing period.

Speaking about the possibility of playing mind games with Norris, Russell said:

“I can’t be bothered with mind games, it’s too much effort. No, there are no mind games. We’re just working on our own program and, to be honest, it is absolutely unrepresentative what we’ve seen during testing. You know who is probably in the top half, and you know who’s in the bottom half, but when it comes to qualifying you’ve got tenths of a second splits between [teams], which is the equivalent of five kilos worth of fuel. Maybe Lando [Norris] is playing mind games, but we’re not!”

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Mercedes' George Russell claims Ferrari and McLaren are looking strong ahead of new season

The highly anticipated Ferrari F1-75 and McLaren MCL36 finally hit the track in Barcelona. Both cars have impressed fans and critics, placing in the top five consistently. McLaren and Ferrari placed fourth and fifth in the overall timing charts at the end of the testing period, giving fans a glimpse of yet another fierce battle between the two in the coming months.

George Russell was quick to note his competitors' successes, claiming that both teams have a good grip over the 2022 regulations thus far. The Mercedes driver, however, believes it is still too early to make accurate predictions of real performances, citing that championships are not won in pre-season testing. He told reporters in Barcelona:

“They seem to have things well under control and they’re on top of everything. They look very strong on low fuel, high fuel, and with the tyre management. Who knows? We all know that we’re on different programmes, but we definitely know from the average of all of the different runs that we’re behind them at the moment. Let’s wait and see. The championship isn’t won in Barcelona winter testing.”

Mercedes, on the other hand, did better than the rest of the field, with a 1-2 at the end of the winter testing period. Sergio Perez's Red Bull followed in third, perhaps hinting at yet another intense battle between the two teams in the coming months.