Mercedes completed a 1-2 front-row lockout in yesterday’s Sakhir GP qualifying session. Whilst Valtteri Bottas claimed pole position, stand-in teammate George Russell was definitely not far behind him finishing P2.

Earlier this week, Russell was appointed as Hamilton’s replacement, after the latter tested positive for coronavirus. Since then, the young Briton has spent time acclimatizing to his new environment at Mercedes.

In the post-qualifying press conference, Russell was asked about his standout moment from the build-up to the weekend so far. Teammate Bottas chipped in with some interesting words of his own regarding the coffee at Mercedes!

George Russell believes the food at Mercedes has been ‘really nice’!

Russell responded and stated, “The food’s been really nice, to be honest. That’s been… it’s good, to be honest! It’s good at Williams. Now you make me feel bad! The food at Williams is good.”

The 22-year-old continued and said, “Yeah, the food is nice. There is not one single thing. All of it. That’s why Mercedes are so dominant. It’s not just one thing that makes them so great, it’s everything and the way the whole team works, the way they deal with issues.”

Valtteri Bottas, however, disagreed with Russell and pinpointed the one aspect that could be better at Mercedes. Safe to say, the Finn talked about a very specific thing that mattered to him!

Bottas interjected, “The coffee’s not great.

“It’s Nespresso. Needs to be better.”

Verstappen then jumped into the conversation himself and said, “You know your coffee.” To which Bottas jokingly replied, “Getting there. But I’m pushing all the… the priority is always the coffee.”

The defending Constructors’ champions showed no signs of backing off in Sakhir

Despite having sewn up the titles and missing their star driver, Lewis Hamilton, it became a matter of business as usual for Mercedes. Both Bottas and Russell kept the pace going on the short length track to put in tremendous flying laps.

However, the Mercedes pair will be aware of the threat the likes of Verstappen and Perez possess. However, with the powerful machinery they have at their disposal, the expectation is that they will be able to get off to the ideal start in the race.