F1 | Russell: “Unexpected pole, at the beginning of the year it was unimaginable”

It will be an all-English front row that will open the British Grand Prix tomorrow, thanks to the pole position and second place achieved by the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. An unexpected front row but, like last week, when there is an opportunity to exploit, the Star is ready and so it was also at Silverstone.

Max Verstappen in fact damaged the floor in Q1 with an exit on the gravel after losing the car in the wet at Copse, with damage estimated by Christian Horner at around three tenths. A potential therefore not fully exploited, with a similar argument that could also be applied to the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri: for different reasons, in fact, the two drivers of the Woking team were unable to complete a good final attempt, with Lando Norris who directly aborted, leaving the field clear for his opponents.

The two Mercedes took advantage of this, and during the last attempt they took advantage of the opportunity to place the two W15s in front of everyone. Russell placed his single-seater in the lead with over a tenth and a half of an advantage over Hamilton, managing to find those precious hundredths that then guaranteed him the pole in the second and third split times.

“What a feeling! At the start of this year, we never imagined we would be on pole here, with a 1-2 and Lando in third, and the fans always give us so much energy,” said Russell, thrilled with the pole and also the first achieved by the team, because it certainly came as a surprise.

“The car came to life in qualifying and it was a joy to drive on this circuit. We are riding the wave, but we have a race to win and it will be very close, but at the moment I am very happy. The crowd gives so much energy. We are three Brits in the top three, we could never have dreamed of a better one here at Silverstone”

Satisfaction also shared by teammate Lewis Hamilton, who also wanted to point out how unexpected it was given the values ​​seen yesterday. In general, the drivers had in fact said they were satisfied with the overall balance: some choices in FP2 had not given the hoped-for results, but the indications obtained from FP1 were not bad in terms of feeling in the car”.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“Congratulations to George, he did a great job. We certainly didn’t expect to be on the front row this weekend. But it’s a great result for us and the team. The car was fantastic, so everyone in the team who came here deserves it,” Hamilton said.

“As I said, the car was very good. It was just a matter of getting the tyres up to temperature. And then, when it was necessary, we did what we had to do and took advantage of the opportunities.”

“In the end, maybe I could have done better, there was still some time to be made, which George managed to find. However, I am very confident for tomorrow. And I think that, with the conditions we have, we can work together to keep Lando behind.”