George Russell believes Mercedes’ Spanish Grand Prix qualifying performance has put them back in the hunt to battle rivals Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.
Mercedes have brought a small update to their floor at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, following their significant front wing update on both cars at the previous round in Canada.
Since introducing it, the team have threatened regular front-runner Ferrari and got close to both Red Bull and McLaren.
It has reignited talk that the Silver Arrows could be in a title hunt, with Russell believing their performance in qualifying is proof they are back on the right track when speaking to F1.com.
George Russell expects Mercedes’ pace to continue
Mercedes technical director James Allison tempered expectations after Canada, but it appears their form has continued at one of the hardest circuits on the calendar.
Hamilton’s lap in P3 was still three-tenths off the best laps by Norris and Verstappen. Russell expects their upward trajectory to continue, although admitted that the gap to McLaren was slightly larger than they hoped.
“We’ve shown it now in three races in a row,” said Russell. “Monaco we were 20 milliseconds from P3 and that would have been a podium, Canada obviously a pole, I think the gap was slightly bigger here than we hoped.
“I think Lando did an exceptional job, I expect it to be close in the race. [Starting] P3 and P4, as a team, is the best result we could have.”
Is George Russell too accident-prone?
Russell was out-qualified by Lewis Hamilton on only the second occasion this year, with him left livid over his teammate’s preparation lap during the final part of qualifying.
Only two other drivers have a similar record to Russell, notably Verstappen over Sergio Perez and Williams’ Alex Albon over his teammate Logan Sargeant.
While Russell has been impressive behind the wheel compared to the seven-time world champion, Damon Hill feels he is still ‘desperate’ behind the wheel after throwing away a potential shot at victory in Montreal.
Team principal Toto Wolff also said his late move on Oscar Piastri was “never on” which saw him fall behind Hamilton. Russell was also victim to a last-lap crash while chasing Fernando Alonso during the Australian Grand Prix.
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