Russell on finishing in P8 in Qualifying: ‘I have just been off the pace'

George Russell finished in eighth place in a tricky qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton will start from P3 on the grid. The British driver commented on performance on Friday.

"Yes, I mean it was a dynamic session. I've just been off the pace to be honest, just struggling in that session, don't really know why. I usually love those transitional sessions, but yeah every lap we were nowhere, so a bit to try and review, understand. Definitely would have liked to have been higher if we were," Russell told GPblog among others in Belgium.

'Have to understand the car more'

Russell said that he would have liked to have more laps in, but it was impossible in the current sprint format. "[It’s the] same for everybody. Obviously, we'd always love to do more laps. To understand the car, it didn't feel too bad, just slow overall a bit to try and understand. As I said, P8 is not a wonderful place to start for somebody, but definitely would have liked to be higher if we were."