George Russell gives Mercedes the second row for the start of the Dutch Grand Prix, at the end of a very tight and uncertain Qualifying right up to the last second, with the obvious exception of the usual Max Verstappen.
Saturday’s timed practice at Zandvoort proved to be quite difficult right from Q1, with the winding track soaked by the intense rain in the morning which forced everyone to mount intermediate tires until the end of the second heat, when the sun’s rays began to heat the environment and dry the trajectory.
Here it was Lewis Hamilton who lost out, eliminated with the other Mercedes, just getting the 13th fastest time and leaving only Russell to represent the Star of Stuttgart in the assault on Pole Position.
The last part of the session was very chaotic, thanks to the double red flag caused first by the KO of Logan Sargeant, who blocked his Williams, imitated shortly after by the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
At the restart, with 4′ on the clock, the drivers were not allowed any mistakes in their launched attempt and in extremis Russell managed to grab the third spot of the grid, stopping at +0″727 from poleman Verstappen, uncatchable as usual and ruler behind the wheel of Red Bull to the delight of his fans.
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14
Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images
“It was a great session and I’m very happy to be third, I’ve known since the beginning of the year that Qualifying is one of my strengths, so it’s no surprise to me,” smiled the Briton as he got off his W14.
“Things haven’t been going great for us recently, so it was great to be able to stop and get back on track with new ideas, putting everything right. We are in a great position to fight for the podium in the race.”
At the beginning the Mercedes had given the impression of suffering from the damp conditions, but as things changed this helped performance, as the Englishman points out, aware that Verstappen is currently in another category.
“The lap of Q3 went well, I think we always struggle when it’s very wet or when we switch to slick tires and we need to get them up to temperature. But we know that Saturday’s weaknesses are Sunday’s strengths, so it will be an exciting race “.
“I’m sure Max will do his usual Sunday runway to the delight of his people right from the start, hopefully we can battle with Albon, Norris and the others because the car is fast and the pace is similar to the McLarens.”
George Russell, Mercedes-AMG
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
In fact, the McLaren of Lando Norris will be ahead of Russell, but Alex Albon also deserved applause, fourth in the Mercedes-powered Williams.
“We are very happy for Williams, I saw the guys on the pit wall quite satisfied with their performance – concludes Russell – I was with Alex on the plane to Holland and I asked him what his expectations were for the weekend. He told me replied: ‘I think we’re going to suck.’ So he was just wrong! Kudos to Max, Alex and Williams.”
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