F1: George Russell shares his first experience with Mercedes’s new W15, says “it was great to drive”

New Delhi [India], February 22 (ANI): Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver George Russell on Wednesday shared his first experience with the new W15 car for the upcoming season of Formula One and said that it was great to drive.

While speaking to the media after the first testing session before the 2024 season, Russell said that Mercedes’ new W15 can give them a “good foundation” to start the season.

The British driver added that they had completed “lots of laps” on Wednesday and collected “plenty of data” to check the car’s performance.

“It was great to drive the W15 for the first time in anger today. From hitting the ground, it felt like we had a good foundation to start from. We completed lots of laps and have plenty of data to go through. We ended the day in a reasonably good spot, and we can build from here over the next two days,” Russell was quoted by Formula One’s official website as saying.

He added that Mercedes will be more “focused” on maximising the mileage of the car for learning.

“We will be focused on maximising mileage for learning rather than chasing an optimum sweet spot with the car,” he added.

When asked about the comparison of the W15 and Mercedes last year’s W14, he added: “Overall, the W15 does feel nicer to drive than last year’s car.”

In the 2023 season of Formula One, Mercedes displayed a sloppy performance as they failed to clinch a single win. Mercedes finished in second place in the constructors’ standings with 409 points after getting eight podium finishes.

On the other hand, the 26-year-old Mercedes driver finished in eighth place in the driver’s standings with 175 points. He claimed two podium finishes last season.