Russell: 'Think we can fight with Leclerc, but not with Verstappen'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
George Russell has an excellent starting point for the Italian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver was able to start from the front row of the grid despite a poor Friday and Saturday, as no less than four drivers ahead of him were eliminated due to grid penalties. Still, he cannot be truly satisfied with the result of qualifying.
Russell not happy
Russell looks back on qualifying somewhat disappointed, in which he did not feel completely comfortable in his Mercedes car. The large gap to pole-sitter Charles Leclerc also came as a nasty surprise to the British driver. "We started the session a few tenths behind Ferrari, and I thought that probably we'd be three to seven tenths behind, but to end 1.4s behind is a bit shocking," Russell told Sky Sports.
The Mercedes driver calls Q3 'a bit of a mess' and says his team took the risk of not using a new set of tyres in order to save one for the race. Russell says he is glad that Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso did not smash his time because that would have meant losing his second place on the grid.
Before the race, Russell thinks his team needs to concentrate on itself. "We have seen probably last probably last weekend and in Budapest that when we are trying to fight cars that are faster than us, we compromise our overall result," the Mercedes driver continued. "I think we could fight with Charles, but fighting with Max is no chance they are quicker than us. He [Verstappen] will probably be in the lead after 15 laps. Its not as easy to overtake here as in Spa but with the pace they've got they will slice through the field," Russell said.