Russell explains the surprising reason he is 'too heavy' this weekend

George Russell seemed happy on Saturday after qualifying P6 for Sunday's Grand Prix in Imola. Whilst the Mercedes' upgrades seemed to have had some affect, the British driver joked that his sandwich from lunch is to blame for him narrowly missing out on P4 or P5.

Asked whether he was happy with his qualifying result, Russell told the media, including GPblog: "Yes, I felt really happy today. I felt really strong throughout qualifying. P6 was the maximum. Always annoying when it's so close to the car ahead."

"I'm actually half a kilo too heavy this weekend myself. And you don't think that's ever going to make a difference. But half a kilo would have put me P5, which would probably be P4 on the grid. So I'm blaming my sandwich at lunch for that one quick position."

'It felt very strong'

Despite being a little heavier thanks to 'too much pasta', Russell said he was satisfied with his qualifying: "I took satisfaction from that, that lap, because it felt really well optimised. It felt really strong. The car felt great. We know where we are."

Both Mercedes drivers will start behind British rivals McLaren on Sunday, with Lewis Hamilton starting from eighth. Nevertheless, Russell believes McLaren's improvements are reassuring for other teams who also wish to battle against Red Bull: "It's impressive to see what McLaren are achieving. They've made huge strides. They genuinely look like the fastest team right now. So that's motivational for the others."