George Russell has conceded to being surprised by how Mercedes has performed in the opening two rounds of this F1 season.

The British driver contended that it was “refreshing” to see how strong the W16’s race pace was during the Chinese Grand Prix, where he finished on the podium in third – as he did in the year-opening event at Melbourne’s Albert Park.

However, the three-time grand prix winner feels the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix will be a truer test of his team’s progress over the past year.

Last term, the trip to Suzuka proved difficult for the Brackley-based squad, as Russell and then team-mate Lewis Hamilton limped home in seventh and ninth respectively.

“Yeah, I think it has,” the 27-year-old replied to media including RacingNews365 when asked if he has been surprised by how well the Mercedes car has performed so far this campaign.

“We know in qualifying we’ve always been pretty strong. But I think it was quite refreshing in China to see that our race pace was also pretty decent and we were the second-fastest team in China. There were a lot of positives to take away.

“We go to Japan, which was probably one of our worst races last year, so it’ll be quite an interesting test to see if we’ve improved the car compared to this time 12 months ago.”

Cautious optimism over Mercedes pace

Despite the strong start to the year, Russell is preaching cautious optimism. He does not yet feel Ferrari and Red Bull have shown their hands, something that could bump Mercedes down the pecking order.

Sitting in second position in the constructors’ standings on 57 points, the eight-time constructors’ champions hold a 19-point advantage over Red Bull, and 40 points to Ferrari.

“Obviously, the first two races have been great – two podiums – and we couldn’t have hoped for much more,” Russell said.

“I think we also have to be realistic. We are only two races into a long season and I don’t think probably Ferrari and maybe Red Bull have maximised their potential as yet.

“So we don’t want to get carried away thinking this is possible week in, week out. But we definitely know that if we do the best job to our abilities, we’ll be there in the mix.”