British teenager Russell firmly on F1 radar

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – British teenager George Russell put himself on the Formula One radar on Friday with an impressive practice debut for Force India at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The 19-year-old GP3 champion, replacing Mexican regular Sergio Perez for the opening session, set the 12th fastest time. Russell later said on Twitter that while he had no expectations in an unfamiliar car on a circuit he had never driven before, he was “pretty happy” with his morning's work. The Mercedes-backed driver will make another test outing on Friday with the Silverstone-based team at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and can also expect his services to be in demand next year. “Very impressed. For his first time in the car he did a really good job. His feedback was good but he just didn't have enough time to start making improvements to the set-up to his liking,” Force India operations director Otmar Szafnauer told Reuters. “If we could have done that I think he would have been two or three tenths behind Esteban.” Force India's French driver Esteban Ocon was ninth with a best time of 10.454 by a minute, to Russell's 1:11.047. “We're definitely talking to him about doing more with us next year,” Szafnauer said of a driver who is part of Mercedes' young driver programme and has tested for the reigning world champions. “We'll see how he does in Abu Dhabi but hopefully he'll be as good as he was here, if not better because he'll be used to the team and the car. And then next year, even if he's doing GP2, he'll be doing stuff with us. “He's definitely on our radar.” (Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Toby Davis)