George Russell is anticipating to face a race of “harm limitation” on the Austrian Grand Prix after qualifying in P5 on the grid, with the Briton conceding that Mercedes knew they “weren’t going to be that aggressive” on the Pink Bull Ring.
Off the again of their strongest outing of the season in Canada – which noticed Russell declare pole place earlier than taking victory on race day – the Silver Arrows haven’t fared as effectively up to now in Spielberg, the more and more heat situations being only one issue that doesn’t go well with the W16.
Requested if he was comparatively happy to safe fifth place in Qualifying – given the recent temperatures on Saturday – Russell answered: “Nicely I gained’t be celebrating tonight, however I gained’t actually be shedding a lot sleep.
“It’s the way in which F1 goes, we all know the strengths of our automotive and we had a extremely sturdy weekend in Canada. However, coming right here, we knew we weren’t going to be that aggressive, with the temperatures, with the high-speed corners.
“The tarmac’s very abrasive so the tyres are simply having a tough time, and that’s when McLaren come into their very own and we fall again.”
Whereas Lando Norris surged to pole place – main the way in which from the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in P2 and P4 respectively, with the opposite papaya automotive of Oscar Piastri sandwiched between them in third – Russell is joined on the third row by Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson. The Pink Bull of Max Verstappen, in the meantime, sits simply behind in seventh.
When it comes to who he expects to be combating with on Sunday, Russell predicted: “I believe realistically it’s with the Ferraris.
“I believe Max is usually fairly sturdy in these situations, like Barcelona and in Imola, so he’ll in all probability be coming again via, and finally we’ve simply received to try to nearly [do] harm limitation. Something greater than a P5 can be a fairly sturdy consequence however clearly, if there’s probability to go for extra, we’ll be going for it.”
Two positions again from Verstappen is Russell’s crew mate Kimi Antonelli in P9. The Italian seemed to be amongst these affected by a late yellow flag in Qualifying triggered by a spin for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, that means that a number of drivers had been unable to finish a ultimate flying run.
Wanting again at his session – and whether or not the rising temperatures could have brought about Mercedes to battle extra – Antonelli mentioned: “I believe additionally the wind affected us. It was a disgrace to overlook out on the final lap, as a result of I couldn’t full the lap due to the chequered flag, so it was a disgrace. Hopefully tomorrow we are able to have race tempo in an effort to transfer ahead.”
Regardless of a number of the difficulties up to now in matching their rivals, Antonelli – who scored his first F1 podium final day trip in Montreal – believes the squad may be extra aggressive on race day.
“Undoubtedly the tempo has been fairly good, particularly additionally evaluating to George,” the 18-year-old added. “Additionally in FP [Free Practice], the race tempo felt sturdy.
“After all tomorrow we have to test on the temperature and we’re going to be in soiled air, so [that’s] a special story, however hopefully we are able to transfer ahead.”
