George Russell revealed how he was able to put his free practice nightmare behind him to take pole position for Sunday’s Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.
The Brit had endured a nightmarish start to his weekend with a shunt in FP2 on Friday, which saw him damage the front of his Mercedes and end his afternoon’s running.
Russell has, as a consequence of the W16’s characteristics this year, has been left floundering in hotter temperatures.
But with McLaren surprisingly showing a comparative lack of pace, Russell was able to throw down a gauntlet that could not be bettered.
Speaking to media including Motorsport Week after qualifying, Russell hinted he wasn’t considering pole as a prospect until late in Q2.
“Yeah, it’s been a challenging weekend, to be fair,” he said. “I’ve not been comfortable with the car, not been comfortable with myself, and yeah, it just sort of all came towards me in Q3, to be honest, even the end of Q2.
“That was my first good lap of the weekend, and probably the first lap where I felt semi-reasonable, but I knew I had a bit of margin to go further, and then my lap one in Q3 was really strong, and then obviously matched it on the second lap, so pretty pleased with that.
When asked why it had taken so long to dial the W16 in on the tricky Marina Bay track, Russell was left searching for a definitive answer.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” he admitted. “I mean, sometimes, some weekends you just hit the ground running a bit sooner, other times you don’t.
“I’ve found this weekend quite strange. The grip has been really high from the tarmac, but the cars have been sliding quite a lot, and it feels a bit reminiscent of Miami, where it’s really high grip, but the car is sliding, and I just didn’t have much confidence in myself.
“Obviously, the crash yesterday set me back again, but I always sort of remind myself, it doesn’t matter what happens on Friday, it’s Q3 when it counts.”
A ‘snog’ with the barrier almost cost Russell Singapore GP pole
Russell was a fingernail’s length from a disaster though, after a light brush with the wall on his first flying lap in Q3. Asked if it could be defined as a ‘kiss’ or firm hit with the wall, Russell joked: “A bit more of a snog in between the two.”
“No, it wasn’t too bad,” he added. “It’s always when you’re on a really strong lap, and you just touch the wall like that, you’re a little bit tentative going into the next corner, because you just don’t know if you’ve got a puncture, or the car is just going to spin out on you, and obviously it’s a very fast corner, but all good in the end.”
Russell indicated that both Max Verstappen, who qualified second, and third-placed Oscar Piastri will give the biggest threat to a potential victory.
“Probably these two next to me, to be honest,” he said, when asked. “We know the McLarens are usually exceptionally good on their tyres and the hot conditions.
“I think we’ve all been a little bit surprised at their lack of pace this weekend.
“We were probably all expecting them to run away with it, and we certainly didn’t anticipate to be fighting for a pole position here.”
READ MORE – George Russell storms to F1 Singapore GP pole as McLaren struggles again
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