George Russell believes the F1 Chinese GP will be challenging for Mercedes as he aims to capitalise on his front-row start.
George Russell pulled out an impressive lap in the dying seconds of qualifying to secure a front row start alongside Oscar Piastri.
The pace of the W16 was a surprise given his pace in the sprint race, but places him and Mercedes in a strong position for tomorrow.
Russell’s lap time was within a tenth of a second of Piastri, fuelling outside hopes of a potential race win.
Speaking in Parc Ferme, Russell said the result felt “incredible”, highlighting the issues with tyres during the session.
“It feels incredible, to be honest. It was one of the hardest quali sessions I’ve done in a long, long time and I was trying all sorts with my preparation, with the tyres, and nothing seemed to be clicking. Did something totally different on that last lap and it just all came alive and the lap was awesome. Just yeah, so, so happy to be P2.
When asked about the difference between this session and sprint qualifying, Russell highlighted the team’s strategy
“Oh, I mean I was going fast on the out lap, slow on the out lap, prepping the out lap… it was just—and the last one was a bit of a roll of the dice. Had a big moment at Turn 1, but it just all came together and I was really surprised when I crossed the line. I knew it was a good lap, but to see that I was between the McLarens—yeah, just buzzing and looking forward to tomorrow.“
Tyre degradation continues to be a problem for drivers at the Chinese GP. Russell highlighted issues in the Sprint,
“Yeah, it’s going to be tough. I think the Medium tyre in the Sprint was really difficult. Obviously, I think most drivers will start on that at the front of the field tomorrow, and then the Hard—no one’s ran all weekend. So nobody knows right now if it’s going to be a one or a two stop. We know that McLaren are going to be quick, but we’ll be doing everything to try and stay where we are or try and jump ahead of them. Should be a lot of fun.”
George Russell: Tyres to cause challenges in the race
Speaking later in the post-qualifying press conference, Russell admitted that the race would be difficult due to the degradation of the tyres. #
“It was really, really challenging because the weekend has been difficult for everybody to get on top of these tyres and knowing what the best sort of strategy in the session is—if you go hard on your formation lap or do you take it easy? And I was just sort of going all over the place. And on the last lap, I tried something very different, it worked, really strong lap, and the P2 was a real surprise. So really pleased with that one.
Explaining the difference between his two laps, Russell said he tried a different method of warming up his tyres.
This approach made divends, as he found over six tenths of a second between laps, securing his front eow start.
“I just came out the pits and went dead slow round that warm-up lap ahead of my fast lap. So the first lap in Q3 I was full gas on that lap and it seemed OK—I think I was in P5, but two-and-a-half, three-tenths behind Oscar. And then found four-tenths on my last lap. Just really came together and it feels really rewarding when you do your best lap of the weekend when it matters. And to be in the front row is a really great place to start for tomorrow.
Despite his success in qualifying, Russell has firmly rejected any hopes of a victory at the Chinese GP.
“I think that would be a bit of a stretch. Like Oscar said, it was a really difficult race this morning. I do think they’re still a step ahead of everybody. Ferrari were a real surprise in the Sprint, but tomorrow’s a different game. And we’ve got the Hard tyre—nobody’s run that yet. So I expect a slightly different outcome”.
