Russell lacked confidence: 'On the back foot from the start'

Looking back at qualifying, Andrew Shovlin (Mercedes' Trackside Engineering Director) knew what was lacking: "We've struggled for high-speed grip today and ultimately that's where we were losing out in qualifying. George had a tough session; he's lacked the confidence in the rear to really push and ultimately if we can't give him that in qualifying he'll be on the back foot from the start."

'Car not fast enough'

In his team's press release, Shovlin also addressed Hamilton's performance. "Lewis had a better session, but the car isn't fast enough and P5 for him is all we could expect. We're hoping the long run will be better than the single lap but we've got tomorrow morning's qualifying to get through first and there's a decent chance that it will be a wet session."

It is no longer possible to make all kinds of adjustments to the car before Saturday's Sprint. Still, it will be busy hours before the Mercedes people go to bed: "We've got tonight to have a look into the single lap performance and hopefully we can find a bit more, although we're limited in what we can tune as we are now in parc fermé."