George Russell has admitted he was surprised at the searing pace of McLaren and Ferrari during qualifying for the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint.
Entering the weekend, Russell needed to make up ground on teammate Kimi Antonelli following back to back wins for his Italian teammate in China and Japan.
However, Miami sees the introduction of sweeping new regulations for the power units, and the prolonged gap allowed rivals McLaren and Ferrari to refine their cars.
While Mercedes brought just two upgrades to the W17, McLaren and Ferrari have practically new cars, bringing seven and 11 upgrades respectively.
The impact of their efforts quickly became apparent, as Lando Norris took pole position from Antonelli, two tenths of a second behind.
Russell meanwhile, who did not look at one with his Mercedes from the start of practice, admitted his suprise at the front running pace, and being over half a second away from the lead.
“It is pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari have made,” Russell said in Parc Ferme after Sprint Qualifying.
“So that is pretty damn impressive, we knew they’d probably close the gap, but they’re quicker than us, and my side were struggling.”
George Russell not a fan of Miami track
Russell detailed where he believed the deficit to McLaren, Ferrari, and his teammate most likely originated, revealing he is not fond of the Miami International Autodrome.
“Miami is not a track I love to be honest, especially in these hotter conditions.
“I was overheating the tyres a lot in the twisty middle section and struggling to get the right balance with the car, and was quite surprised by the progress of the others.
“I’m not in a great starting position, Sprint races generally don’t offer that much, and hopefully when I get off the line, I don’t lose any more positions and see what we can do.”
Russell experienced a wake up call during Sprint Qualifying, and now faces an uphill battle to rescue his weekend.
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