He said: “We definitely believe eventually we will have a car capable of getting in that fight. But Russell said the team were in a better place than they were at the same point last year, when they discovered in pre-season testing that their car was badly afflicted with aerodynamic bouncing – or porpoising – that compromised their season. “The entry phase (to the corner) has been improved,” Russell said. Wolff said that rivals Red Bull and Ferrari were “fast – no surprise there” but he said there was “a feeling of excitement because we got it wrong last year”.

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