F1 News
Russell disappointed but hopeful ahead of race: "The car didn't feel bad"
- Toby McLuskie
George Russell was one of the drivers who struggled in today's qualifying session, however, he is aware that a chance to move further up the field can fall his way. The Mercedes driver will start from eighth on the grid tomorrow but feels that a better starting position was potentially available.
"Naturally I'm disappointed," he told Sky Sports after the session, "equally I probably would have been kicking myself had I been P4 or P5 on the grid and not tried that little bit extra, so it's always a bit disappointing when you know there's more potential there."
The Brit went on to add: "Things were working really well in Q1 and Q2, I felt like I was driving really well. I had a good feeling with the car. We were so close to Ferrari and Fernando and I tried for more but went slower by trying too hard and paid the price."
Mercedes didn't nail their performance
When questioned about how much potential was left in the car, Russell critically analysed his performance throughout qualifying: "The car didn't feel bad but it's always challenging around a circuit like this. The biggest thing for everybody is getting the tyres in that sweet spot. That can be three, four, or five-tenths of performance if you just nail it, especially on this C5 tyre. You saw Esteban came out of nowhere, did a great job and nailed everything, ultimately we didn't."