George Russell remains confident yet cautious as Mercedes positions itself for a strong showing in the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint race.
Russell will start from the third row for the Sprint Race at the Chinese Grand Prix, a result he feels reflects the true pace of the Mercedes W15 on the Shanghai circuit.
“I’m pretty happy with that lap in SQ3,” Russell said after qualifying. “Big credit to Lewis—he put in a great lap,” he added, acknowledging Hamilton’s impressive pole position performance.
“We deserved that spot today. It was a bit of a strange session—at one point in SQ2 I was out of the top 10, then suddenly up to P2. Honestly, the car felt the same the whole time.”
Looking ahead to the race, Russell remains cautiously optimistic: “It’s tight between the top teams, and things can change quickly. McLaren looked strong earlier in the session, especially in SQ1 and SQ2, so it was a bit of a surprise. But in the end, Lewis and Max nailed it.”
Russell is now eyeing a solid result in the Sprint: “We’re right behind them. I think we’ve got a shot. It should be a fun race.”
Further back, Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured P7, half a second off Russell’s pace. He admitted that getting the soft tyres into the right temperature window was a challenge.
“It felt okay, but it was really close,” Antonelli said. “I felt confident in the car, but my first lap was tricky.”
“I didn’t warm up the tyres properly, so the grip just wasn’t there. The softs stayed cold and I struggled the whole lap. Still, this qualifying went better than in Melbourne, and I’ll see what I can do tomorrow.”
He was happier with his runs on the medium compound: “The second lap on mediums felt really strong—I was still finding time. It’s just a shame the softs didn’t come together the same way.”
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Mercedes F1 remains in the mix heading into the Sprint in Shanghai
Mercedes F1 remains in the mix heading into the Sprint in Shanghai
