SkySports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz blasts Mercedes driver George Russell for testing complaint
GEORGE RUSSELL has been blasted by Sky Sports presenter Ted Kravitz.
It comes after Russell suggested there was not enough testing time for the drivers to get ready to the new season.
The 2018 F2 champion said: “I don’t think three days is enough, because you have got to remember from a driver’s perspective, that is one and a half days per driver.
“We were fortunate to do the [filming days] last week, but had we not, that would have been getting on for 12 weeks out of the car from Abu Dhabi to Bahrain.
“Could you imagine Rafael Nadal spending 12 weeks without hitting a ball and then going straight into the French Open with one and a half days of training? You know it just wouldn’t ever happen.”
However, Kravitz has blasted this claim, insisting there is enough time for drivers to get to grips with their machinery.
He told Sky Sports F1 Vodcast: “[Russell] is a driver, so he wants more practice, which is valid.
“The engineers want more [time] so they can do their engineering things, which is not valid.
“It’s interesting because they will all get to the first race slightly undercooked, apart from Red Bull.
“But it’s much better for us viewers, us fans, to get to the first race and have something going on rather than a procession.”
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST NEW CUSTOMER SIGN UP DEALS
“Anyone who said that ‘three days of testing was not enough’ is a fool, basically.
“Because it was enough, there was loads of running, people doing three Grand Prix distances because the reliability was so good. So, it is fine.”
Russell is in action alongside team-mate Lewis Hamilton hoping to add to his single race win from last season.
The lights go out for the first race of the F1 season at 3pm tomorrow as the season kicks off with Bahrain.
Complete F1 2023 race calendar – details on every Grand Prix this year