George Russell rued making “too many mistakes” during qualifying for Formula 1’s Turkish Grand Prix and felt a position within the top seven was possible.
Russell has excelled in qualifying in recent grands prix, taking a shock second in Belgium, third in Russia, but endured a subdued Saturday in Turkey.
Russell spun off during a rain-affected final practice session and, having made Q2 in near-dry conditions, slid wide at the final corner on his last push lap.
The mistake left Russell 13th on the grid for Sunday’s race at Istanbul Park.
“The lap was incredible to be honest, I was a second up on my previous lap,” he said.
“It would have probably been just inside the top five, half a second, six tenths inside of Q3 and just lost it.
“I was really trying to push the boundaries in that moment and just too many mistakes from my side.
“At the end of the day I am the one inside of the car and just pushed it too hard. The conditions aren’t easy for sure but it was the same for everybody. I expect more from myself in these kind of conditions.
“We definitely didn’t have the car this weekend to be inside the top 10, yet in this qualifying session with the difficult conditions I think we could have easily been top seven on the grid for tomorrow. I’m pretty disappointed.”
Russell has scored points in four of the last five grands prix but expects an uphill challenge to repeat the feat in Turkey.
“We’ll have to be dynamic to the situation,” he said.
“Nobody knows whether it will be a one-stop, two-stop, or if the soft or hard tyres will hold on. It will be a tricky race.”
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