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Verstappen at big disadvantage against Russell after penalty? 'It's a big difference'
George Russell has admitted that there is "a big difference" starting P1 at the Qatar Grand Prix, giving him a much cleaner side to the track after Max Verstappen's pole position was rescinded by the stewards.
The Dutchman just pipped the Brit to pole in the Middle East by +0.055 seconds right at the end of qualifying, giving the Red Bull Racing driver his first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix. However, after the session, Verstappen had to go and visit the stewards for driving unnecessarily slow on a cool-down lap and impeding Russell. The stewards found Verstappen guilty, and he was given a one-place grid penalty, meaning he lost his P1 start to Russell.
As a result, the Mercedes driver will now move to the much cleaner side of the grid to start, while Verstappen will now have to deal with a much dirtier side of the track which will no doubt hamper his start.
Russell hopes the track is cleaned to make it less "unfair"
Before Russell knew that he would still start from pole, he was asked if he was going to attempt to overtake Verstappen. He really estimated that the chances of him being able to pass the Dutchman were slim: "It's probably about one and a half cars length difference from the inside all the way to turn one. We normally judge it based on distance in four seconds, and we think it's probably about four metres different left to right."
The run down to the first corner may be too short to mount an attack, and after the sprint race start, drivers know that starting on the dirty side of the track will hinder their chances at mounting a turn 1 overtake, which Russell found out.
"It's quite a big difference here [between the dirty and the clean part]. I hope the guys tonight at the track can clean it a bit because it was pretty clear in the sprint that everyone on that right side made bad starts, and that's obviously a little bit unfair to have those circumstances," Russell concluded.
This article was created in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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