Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted that McLaren has a pace advantage over the Brackley squad at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Woking-based team has dominated the three practice sessions at Jeddah, but its their strong tyre temperature management that makes them a formidable team here.
Lando Norris topped the timesheets in FP3, with him leading team-mate Oscar Piastri by 0.24 seconds. Mercedes driver George Russell followed the papaya drivers in third with sixth tenths between him and Norris.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 following FP3 by the Red Sea, Wolff conceded in his rivalry with McLaren.
“Looks like similar to Bahrain. When it’s hot [McLaren] are just in a league of their own,” he admitted. “Amazing for them, less good for us. But we were solid, best of the rest this session, and we hope it’s going to come more towards us in terms of McLaren in qualifying in the evening.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Lars Baron – Motorsport Images
“Everybody ran pretty much flat out, they are just having the tyres in a sweet spot when it’s warm.”
With qualifying taking place in the cooler hours of the evening, this performance deficit may not be so vast. Although with that said, race simulations from the Andrea Stella-led team look scarily rapid.
Mercedes the “best of the rest”
Wolff can take solace in the fact that the Silver Arrows still look impressive so far this weekend, with the chief himself labelling them as the “best of the rest.”
Antonelli didn’t have as good a time today as his team-mate, finishing 10th on the timesheets, over a second off Norris’ lead.
Max Verstappen, sat fourth behind Russell in FP3, believes part of their dominance could stem from former Red Bull designer Rob Marshall.
“Once he joined you could see that clearly,” Verstappen said on McLaren’s jump in performance being connected to Marshall.
