F1 News
Russell expresses qualifying concerns after 'mixed' Friday in Australia
George Russell has stated that he has mixed feelings after an up-and-down Friday in Australia. The Brit could only manage tenth place in the second free practice session. After the running, he admitted that Mercedes still had a lot of work to do before qualifying at the Grand Prix in Melbourne.
For Russell, it was a day of ups and downs. "Every time had the medium or hard tyre on, we were in the top two on the timesheet and every lap felt good," he explained to Sky Sports after the session. "But then we put the soft tyre on, and we didn't go much quicker." Still, there's speed in the Mercedes car, as Russell explained. "Clearly there's a bit of pace in the car, it's just getting the most out of the tyres so we need to understand why that is".
Ahead of qualifying, Russell also expressed his concerns with soft tyre running. "If the session stopped after the hard tyre, or if the session had stopped after the medium tyre, I'd have said that we are there or thereabouts.
"But obviously you don't drive qualifying on the hard or medium tyre. You qualify on the soft tyre, we don't seem so competitive on that one." Despite the mixed feelings, Russell is still hoping for a positive qualifying result. "I'm sure we can find some improvements tonight." He concluded.
Russell's scary practice mistake
The first two free practice sessions were far from smooth for Mercedes’ lead driver. In FP1, Russell lost control after his right tyre clipped the grass at Turn 3, sending him off track and nearly into the barrier. He was luckier than his fellow countryman, Oliver Bearman, who suffered a huge smash at high speed in his Haas. The 19-year-old emerged from his car unscathed.
This article was written in collaboration with Mitchel van der Hoef
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