George Russell expressed his frustration with the red flag incident during Q2, which prevented him from making two attempts on new tires in the final stage of qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. As the only remaining Mercedes driver in the pole position shootout, Russell ended up in eighth place for tomorrow’s race. He revealed that the stoppage in the second stage forced him to abandon his initial Q2 lap and use a scrubbed set later on. Despite the setback, Russell remains optimistic about the race, acknowledging that anything can happen.
In a surprising turn of events, Russell managed to avoid missing out on the top-10 shootout this time, after finishing in 11th place in Sprint Qualifying. He took advantage of the new regulations allowing set-up tweaks during Sprint weekends, making several changes to improve the balance of his W15. He hopes that these adjustments will prove to be beneficial in tomorrow’s race.
Although starting behind the two Ferrari cars, Russell believes that Mercedes’ main competition in the race will come from the McLaren drivers and Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin. He agrees with the assessment that Ferrari seems to have an advantage in long-run trim compared to the other teams chasing Red Bull. Russell anticipates a battle with McLaren and Alonso for a competitive race.