Mercedes duo stumped by soft tyre woes in Melbourne

George Russell and his rookie Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli faced a frustrating Friday at the Australian Grand Prix, where their W16 machines shone on harder rubber but stumbled when it came to unlocking the soft tyre’s secrets.

Russell, the team’s new leader, landed 10th in FP2, a solid but unspectacular showing that left him 0.843s off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the session’s pacesetter.

While he flexed strong race pace on the C3 and C4 compounds during long runs, the C5 softs – crucial for qualifying—left him scratching his head.

Antonelli, in his first official F1 outing as a Mercedes driver, fared worse, slotting into P16 with a lap peppered with wobbles. Both pointed the finger at the same culprit: those elusive red-walled Pirellis.

Russell’s Rollercoaster Day

Russell’s day was a study in contrasts. On the medium and hard tyres, he felt like a king.

“It was a really up and down day because every time we had the medium or the hard tyre on, we were right in the top two of the time sheets and every lap felt good, felt confident,” he said.

“And then we put the soft on, we didn't go much quicker. Clearly there is a bit of pace in the car and it's just getting the most out of the tyre, so we need to understand why that is. Let's see what we can achieve overnight.”

The Briton is optimistic a late-night debrief might crack the code, but the gap gnaws at him.

“I mean, if the session stopped off with a hard tyre and if the session stopped after the medium tyre and FP1, I'd have said definitely we're there or thereabouts.

“But obviously you don't qualify under the hard or the medium tyre, you qualify on the soft tyre, and we don’t seem so competitive on that one. I’m sure we can find some improvements tonight.”

For now, the soft-tyre struggle keeps Mercedes off the sharp end.

Antonelli’s Rookie Reflections

For Antonelli, the soft tyre was less a tool and more a riddle. The 18-year-old Italian found the C5 a tricky beast to tame, especially with his limited experience.

“It was I think quite a positive day; there's some work to do on single lap, just getting the tyres in the right window, but overall I felt pretty good,” he reviewed.

A late mistake marred his fastest lap, but he was buoyed by progress.

“I did a little mistake at the end, but overall I think I'm getting more and more confidence up, and I think the long run was quite positive today.”

But the C5’s quirks definitely threw him off.

“The C5 is a compound I've never really used, so definitely I'm learning it; especially the warm-up is quite tricky, but we've got some good data ahead of tomorrow.”

With the team gathering intel, Antonelli’s baptism by fire hints at promise – if they can heat those softs just right.

Both drivers know Saturday’s qualifying looms large, and without a soft-tyre breakthrough, Mercedes might be watching the leaders from the midfield. Overnight, it’s all hands on deck.

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