Mercedes’ George Russell takes second place in the qualifying session for tomorrow’s F1 Chinese GP. He was separated from the pole-sitter Oscar Piastri by 0.082 seconds.
Following the thrilling conclusion to qualifying, Russell felt incredible and looked forward to the race tomorrow.
Different direction that came alive at the right moment
Nothing was clicking for Russell during the preparations for this session. The Briton called this Chinese GP qualifying one of his “hardest” qualifying sessions in a long time. He was happy to secure P2 for the team.
“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.“
Russell did something “different” during his final run, which turned out to be the difference.
“[I] 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.“
Russell explained that he prepared for his final out lap by going fast and slow. He was surprised when he took second.
“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.“
“[I] 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.“
The strategy for tomorrow’s Chinese GP
Shanghai International Circuit’s nature is notoriously hard with tyre degradation. Earlier during Sprint, Verstappen claimed he was trying to “survive” with the graining. Russell confirmed his rival’s statement of the difficulty in running the Mediums in the F1 Chinese GP Sprint.
The three-time race winner says most drivers will start with the Mediums before jumping to the Hard compounds. However, he is unsure of tomorrow’s strategy would be like. One or two stops were on the cards to stop McLaren.
“Yeah, it’s going to be tough [race]. 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.”
