Briton George Russell was deprived of his Mercedes teammate, Kimi Antonelli, of achieving the best full time in the third free practice before the Austrian Grand Prix in the Formula 1 World Championship, after he recorded the fastest lap today, Saturday, despite suffering from a problem braking the car.
The young Italian Antonelli, the leader of the overall standings and the fastest time in the two test sessions yesterday, came in second place with a very small difference of only 0.038 seconds behind Russell.
Lewis Hamilton, the Ferrari driver and recent winner of the Barcelona race, came in third place, 0.115 seconds behind, after he faced a problem at the end of the session in which the two rear wheels stopped during one of the turns.
Antonelli had seized the lead early from McLaren driver Lando Norris, who complained of a problem with the car’s mirror, before the leaders swapped positions as performance improved during the session.
Despite his complaints about poor braking performance on straight lines, Russell succeeded in setting his best time in the final minutes, seizing the lead for himself.
“Braking performance is very poor on straight lines, especially on the front axle,” Russell said via the team communication circle.
For his part, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said: “When a driver is fast, he can regain balance and win. Kimi is very fast, so we signed him, and the same applies to George.”
He added: “George does not need to prove his speed, we know his potential well.”
On the other hand, Hamilton expressed his concern about the problems he faced, pointing out that the rear wheels stopped in one of the corners, which requires reviewing the gearbox settings before qualifying.
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