Sky Sports F1 pundit Anthony Davidson saw the ‘surprise of the season’ ahead of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen topped FP1 as he looks to bounce back from his DNF last time out in Australia.
But it was something further down the order that caught the eye of Sky Sports F1 pundit Anthony Davidson.
Verstappen led a Red Bull one-two, just under two tenths ahead of teammate Sergio Perez, while Melbourne winner Carlos Sainz was third.
Then came the Mercedes, with George Russell out-pacing Lewis Hamilton as well as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri as home favourite Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris completed the top 10.
Anthony Davidson marvels at Mercedes performance in Suzuka
Davidson pointed to Mercedes’ relatively strong performance in the opening session as a huge shock.
He didn’t anticipate the Silver Arrows being fast enough to split the Ferraris and keep pacesetter Verstappen just about in sight.
Significantly, he says both Russell and Hamilton seemed more at ease behind the wheel than they did last time out.
“The drivers look more comfortable on track than they did in Melbourne,” said Davidson, who routinely carries out simulator work for the team.
“That Mercedes splitting the two Ferraris and only four-and-a-half tenths away from a heavily-upgraded Red Bull with Verstappen putting a sweet lap in, for me that’s the surprise of the season.”
Will Sebastian Vettel join Mercedes?
While the focus for most of Mercedes’ personnel will be on improving the performance of their W15, there continues to be off-track speculation around the team’s driver line-up.
Hamilton is of course leaving the Brackley outfit to join Ferrari at the end of the year.
And the search for his successor has taken a fresh turn this week amid suggestions that four-time Sebastian Vettel could make a sensational comeback.
Vettel has said he remains in contact with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Bernie Collins, who worked alongside him as a strategist at Aston Martin, thinks he’d accept an offer from the team.
David Croft has tried to pour cold water on the possibility of a move, but Russell says he’d welcome the opportunity to test himself against the 53-time winner.
On the tarmac, Mercedes are in desperate need of a big haul of points in Suzuka after a double retirement in Australia.
Hamilton suffered an engine failure, while Russell crashed out on the penultimate lap in an incident that saw Alonso penalised.
It left them just a point ahead of Aston Martin in fourth place in the constructors’ standings.
Wolff’s team, who finished second behind Red Bull last year, enter the weekend 29 points adrift of McLaren, and 67 behind the top two.
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