'Impressive' Red Bull 'a step ahead' - Russell

George Russell (right, with Fernando Alonso) spent all day in the Mercedes on the opening day of testing on Wednesday

Mercedes’ George Russell says Red Bull are “a step ahead of everyone” before the new Formula 1 season.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz set the pace on the second day of pre-season testing on Bahrain, from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Sainz beat the fastest time set by three-time world champion Max Verstappen on the first day.

But Russell praised Red Bull, calling the constructors’ champions “such an impressive team”.

He added: “Red Bull are the favourites and definitely a step ahead of everyone else. That was to be expected.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who ended the day sixth fastest having run only in the slower morning session, agreed with Russell’s assessment..

Leclerc said: “In terms of feeling, our car feels a lot better than last year. My initial feeling is that Red Bull remain quite a bit ahead.”

Sainz used the soft C4 tyre for a series of runs, ending with a best time of one minute 29.921 seconds.

The Spaniard was 0.758 seconds quicker than Perez, who was using the harder and slower C3 tyre for his fastest run.

On the C3 tyres, Sainz’s best time was 0.718secs slower than Perez’s but set at a warmer, slower time of the day.

Lap times in pre-season testing are notoriously unreliable indicators of form as a result of the number of variables at play.

Fuel load, track conditions, time of day, tyres and power-unit settings are among the factors that can distort the competitive picture in testing as teams seek to hone their cars before the first race at the same Bahrain track on 2 March.

But there is a growing consensus within F1 that Red Bull, who last year produced the most dominant season in F1 history, again have a decisive edge over the rest of the field.

Russell, who did not drive on Thursday but will share the car with Hamilton on the final day of testing on Friday, said he was encouraged by the feel of the new Mercedes.

“The car last year was really challenging to drive – Lewis and I had no confidence in it,” he said. “We couldn’t attack the medium- and high-speed corners without the rear end stepping out, and we have made a really good step in terms of the consistency of the car.

“We can really lean on it better than we were able to in the past and this was a huge focus. Last year we saw many flaws with the W14 that the team have done a great job to rectify.

“Now we have a car mechanically where the aero guys can go and focus on building downforce. In the past, whatever we did aerodynamically there were underlying issues with the race car.

“When the car feels nice but it’s not quite on the pace, you just need to find downforce in the right places.

“This iteration of regulations there is definitely a sweet spot for all the teams. You want the car as low as possible but you can’t go too low in case you’re bottoming out or you cause bouncing, which is still there in the background for some of the teams.

“Red Bull are already in that sweet spot but hopefully we can close the gap. But it is going to take a lot of hard work to do it.”

McLaren’s Lando Norris was fourth fastest ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s RB – Red Bull’s second team are drawing attention because they appear to have taken a step forward having bought a lot of parts from the main outfit.

Ricciardo was another to use the C4 tyre for his fastest lap while most concentrated on the C3, which will be the softest compound available at the first race weekend.

Day two lap times

1 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 1:29.921

2 Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 1:30.679

3 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:31.066

4 Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1:31.256

5 Daniel Ricciardo (RB) – 1:31.411

6 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:31.750*

7 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 1:32.029

8 Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 1:32.061

9 Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) – 1:32.227

10 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 1:32.328*

11 Logan Sergeant (Williams) – 1:32.578

12 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 1:33.053*

13 Zhou Guanyu (Sauber) – 1:33.715 *

14 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 1:32.805 *

15 Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 1:36.611

16 Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) – 1:37.509*

Yuki Tsunoda (RB) – 1:34.136*

* = time set in morning session. Sainz, Ricciardo and Sargent set their fastest time on C4 tyre, all others on C3. C1 is hardest tyre; C5 the softest.