Mercedes show signs of revival but Lewis Hamilton still behind George Russell

dailystar.co.uk:

Lewis Hamilton continued to be outshone by teammate George Russell.The Silver Arrows have been unable to compete with Ferrari and Red Bull at the front of the grid this season, with porpoising issues proving to be their Achilles heel and leaving them in a midfield battle.However, Mercedes began to show they had quelled those problems in the practice sessions in Barcelona and, unlike last time out in Miami, were able to maintain those showings in Saturday's qualifying session.Russell continues to be Mercedes' shining light ahead of seven-time world champion Hamilton though, qualifying ahead of his teammate and Red Bull's Sergio Perez - showing that he could have a say in the title battle this season.Despite those improvements, Mercedes still seem to be a long way from fighting for pole position and race wins though as Russell finished six tenths off a second from Charles Leclerc, who starts on pole, with Hamilton a further three tenths back.It leaves Hamilton in particular with plenty of work to do and provides further evidence that his quest for an eighth world title will have to run beyond 2022, with the experienced Brit unable to compete this season.Will George Russell secure a podium finish in Barcelona?

Comment below.Russell has finished in the top five in every race so far this season and, starting fourth, looks set to maintain that record.While Mercedes have largely performed better on race day than they have in qualifying or practice this season, Barcelona is a notoriously difficult track to overtake and looks likely to remain that way despite F1's regulation changes this year.The winner at the Circuit de Catalunya has started on pole 23 times in 31 races, while there's only been three race winners in Barcelona.