On Saturday, George Russell prematurely ended his qualifying round for the United States Grand Prix due to a late spin in turn nineteen, causing his W15 to hit the wall. The Englishman was somewhat surprised by the lack of performance on the Texas circuit, especially after his impressive performance in the sprint shootout. On Sunday, he will start from the fourth position.
“I’m not quite sure what went wrong,” George Russell responded after the session. “It was a great lap, until I got to turn twelve. I was even four and a half tenths ahead, but I lost a lot of time in that twelfth turn.” According to the Mercedes driver, his fast lap would still have been good for a decent time, had he not gone off the track just before the finish line.
“I was still faster than my previous lap,” he explained. “But in that penultimate turn, I turned in and suddenly had so much oversteer. It surprised me – maybe I was just pushing too hard, but the result is quite disappointing.” Russell’s moment ended in a significant crash, causing the session to be suspended shortly after.
The Elusive ‘Sweet Spot’
“The damage to the car means the mechanics will have a long night,” Russell sighed. “It’s actually a bit confusing – Lewis Hamilton and I were fighting for the fastest time yesterday, and today we were nowhere.” Hamilton was eliminated in the first qualifying session and will start Sunday at P18.
“The car didn’t feel that good, but the pace was there,” Russell said about his performance on Friday. “That wasn’t the case today. It’s not the first time this has happened. Every time we think we’ve found a ‘sweet spot’, the car is good enough for pole position. But outside of that, we’re nowhere. I’m really very disappointed – the team has worked so hard to bring these upgrades,” he concluded.
