George Russell declares Mercedes F1 title bid 'quite a stretch' after first drive of W16

George Russell admits the idea of Mercedes competing for title glory this season is "quite a stretch".

The Brit got behind the wheel of his new car, the W16, for a filming day in Bahrain yesterday. And after that brief drive ahead of the start of pre-season testing today he didn't sound overly enthusiastic about Mercedes' new machine.

"I've definitely got some first impressions, which I'll keep to myself for now," Russell, 27, said. "It's important not to jump to any conclusions because we know from last year, circuit to circuit, the performance fluctuations were massive from all of the teams. From what I feel so far, I'm happy."

Mercedes head into the new season on the back of a finishing fourth last term, behind all their main rivals. And though Russell could take some personal pride from finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton in their final season as team-mates, sixth place is not where the Brit wants to be. He admits, though, that it will be tough for Mercedes to get the better of the teams who finished above them last year.

Russell said: "You always say you want to fight for a championship but, being realistic and knowing where we finished last year, that's quite a stretch. But we know that if we go in every single weekend and we try to maximise every single result, who knows where that will take us? I'm just going into every race as though it's a race we can win and seeing where that takes us over the course of the season."

With Hamilton now driving for rivals Ferrari, Russell is partnered by 18-year-old rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli for whom Mercedes have very high hopes. Team boss Toto Wolff admitted it felt "unusual" not to be working with Hamilton in this pre-season but believes promoting talented teen Antonelli can give his squad fresh impetus.

The Austrian said: "Kimi is of such great value to the team, the dynamic is so positive and I see a bit of a new buzz going through the team. Both of them are great - between George's experience and Kimi's freshness, we're in a good spot."

Mercedes have failed to build a title-challenging car in F1's current regulations cycle, which began in 2022 and ends after the upcoming season, but Wolff insists that his colleagues remain as hungry as ever. He added: "We're motivated every single year, it's not that we are lacking energy or ambition. It's physics in the car, not mystics, which we have to get on top of."

Meanwhile, though Antonelli admits his rookie status doesn't make him the best judge, he at least sounded more optimistic after his first run in the W16.

The Italian said: "I don't really have a lot of experience with the previous car, but the car was very driveable, very nice to drive. So far it felt good. Over the next couple of days, we'll see better."