Russell stays optimistic despite qualifying setback
George Russell completed the Sprint qualifying on Friday in Austin in fifth place, but he remains hopeful for a stronger performance during the race weekend. During FP1, both Mercedes cars ran on hard and medium tires to best prepare for the Grand Prix. In the Sprint qualifying shootout, they quickly progressed through SQ1, but the second session proved more challenging.
George Russell was the only Mercedes driver to reach SQ3. With the soft tires, the situation slightly improved for the British driver, but it was still not enough to move past fifth position. Mercedes appears to be struggling more than expected at the Circuit of the Americas, a fact confirmed by Russell himself, who noted that Nico Hulkenberg managed to secure fourth place ahead of him, signaling an unusual balance of power on the track. George Russell stated, “Having a Kick Sauber ahead of us was not what we expected.”
Despite the result, the Mercedes driver hopes that race pace will be better than qualifying pace this weekend, allowing him to make up positions during both the Sprint and the Grand Prix.
George Russell’s words
“It wasn’t the maximum we could achieve today, but it’s fair to say that we were never in contention for the Sprint pole,” George Russell said. “Nico Hulkenberg put in an incredible lap to claim fourth position. Having a Kick Sauber ahead of us was not what we expected. But congratulations to him and his team.”
“As we’ve said all year, on our good days we fight for victory, and on the bad days we finish fifth. Today we managed fifth place by a narrow margin, but we hope to have a better car in the race than we did in qualifying.”
“We also know it can be difficult to start off strong in Sprint weekends, so we will do everything we can in the actual Sprint race. After that, we will focus on improving the car for both qualifying and Sunday’s Grand Prix,” the British driver concluded.
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