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George Russell admitted he "overestimated" grip levels during Friday's first free practice session at Spa, putting the Briton on the back foot early in the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Russell arrived in Belgium aiming to close the 25-point championship gap to his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli. However, the Italian appeared to be the stronger of the two on Friday, topping the second free practice session, while Russell could only manage eighth.
The Briton believes he was at a disadvantage after taking the wrong direction with his setup for the initial session.
"We didn't have the smoothest Friday here at Spa. We overestimated the grip levels in FP1, which meant our initial setup wasn't optimal. We struggled with the car's balance, and while we did learn some things, it wasn't the ideal way to start the weekend," Russell stated.
The Briton, who has two wins this season after triumphs in Australia and Austria, acknowledges that he cannot afford to have off-weekends if he wants to mount a serious challenge to Antonelli for the title in the second half of the season. Despite concerns about single-lap pace, Russell expressed confidence in his long-run performance at Spa.
"We worked hard before FP2 and made some changes that improved things. We still have room for improvement, especially on a single fast lap, and we'll try to find that overnight. Our long runs were more competitive, and that gives us confidence heading into Saturday and Sunday," the Mercedes driver explained.
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