Russell gets front row seat to battles: 'Was a fun one with Max and Lando'

F1 News

Russell Sprint reaction P4 Austrian GP
29 June at 13:03
  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

George Russell started the Sprint Race in P4 on the grid, and finished it in also fourth position at the Red Bull Ring. The Briton was satisfied with this result, and looked ahead to the rest of the weekend in Austria.

Russell did not have the best of the starts to the Sprint in Austria, and also had to concede a place to Carlos Sainz in the beginning. "As soon as I passed Carlos, I had no battery left for my energy, so I couldn't actually brake for DRS for a number of laps." Even though the Briton could overtake the Spaniard, he coud not chase down the two McLarens ahead of him afterwards. "Ultimately I think McLaren still are a little bit ahead but nice to see we are seemingly faster than Ferrari right now," the one-time Grand Prix winner explained to Sky Sports. 

The Briton also had a great view of a fun battle ahead of his Mercedes too. Early on, Lando Norris was putting Max Verstappen under some pressure, and after looking up the Dutchman's inside a couple of times, Norris committed to suprprise Verstappen with a dive up his inside into Turn 3. Then, the defending world champion also divebombed Norris back into Turn 4, without DRS. "I was watching Lando and Max battling ahead. So that was fun for a few laps," Russell added.

Russell doesn't want massive changes

"We'll be making a few changes, but I think the car is in a reasonably good place," the Mercedes driver shared his team's plans until qualifying. However, he believes they still have a gap to Verstappen and Norris fighting at the front. "I saw it in Barcelona. We was a tenth and a half, probably behind Lando and Max and seems to be that way again this weekend," Russell concluded.

George Russell enters qualifying in great from. Since the Monaco Grand Prix, the Briton always started from at least the second row of the grid, and he also claimed pole position in Canada.