George Russell confirmed his delight at taking pole position for the Formula 1 Barcelona Catalunya Grand Prix, after converting strong pace seen in practice.
Russell has been conspicuous by his absence at the front in recent races, the gap to his teammate Kimi Antonelli opening to a staggering 68 points, and dropping to third in the standings.
But practice and qualifying indicated a return to form for the Briton, who has enjoyed a competitive edge over Antonelli so far this weekend.
Increasing his advantage over the young Italian to over three-tenths of a second in Q3,he took a psychological advantage over Antonelli heading into Sunday’s race.
Russell was delighted with his performance after Q3, admitting his relief at returning to form after a run of difficult races
I’ve got to be honest, just really happy to be back in my groove over the course of the whole weekend,” he said in the post qualifying press conference.
“You know, it’s been a difficult few races for me.
“Obviously bad luck, there have been some poor performances in there, but went back to an approach that I knew works for me this weekend, and more important than the pole position for me was just in sort of every lap of the whole weekend, you know, I was in the top two positions and I felt confident, I felt good.
“Just felt like my old self again. So that was, regardless of what happened in Q3, you know, Lewis did a really amazing job and also could have got the pole position as well, but regardless, that was the most important thing for me this weekend.”
George Russell outlines changes to weekend preparations for F1 Barcelona GP
Russell then revealed he returned to an older approach to race weekends, admitting he chose to go in “his own direction” for the F1 Barcelona GP.
“Car set-up, mentality, just going back to basics really,” he confirmed.
“And, you know, these cars are so complicated, the tyres are complicated, the power units are complicated, and it’s challenging to get on top of things.
“And, you know, especially when I’ve got a guy like this next to me who’s been performing so well, you know, you’re trying to constantly improve, and I think that, you know, doing some copy-pasting probably really put me on the back foot.
“So, as I said, this weekend I’ve just gone in my own direction and that’s what I’ve done in the past for the last few years, and really glad to see it paying off.”
He then confirmed he feels at one with the car again, a feeling he revealed was missing since the early part of the season.
“It just feels back to what I felt at the start of the year during winter testing, you know, Barcelona here, Bahrain testing, Melbourne, China.
“I felt really comfortable in the car, really happy. And, you know, Miami was just the first weekend where everything felt pretty challenging, and that’s where I think, I can accept, and with my direct group of engineers we can accept, we probably made some wrong decisions in these last three races.
“As I said, more than anything, more than this pole position, I’m just glad to feel myself again, feel at one with the car again, as I have done for the last few years.”
Russell’s Saturday in Barcelona puts to bed any speculation that he had lost his way. However, he must emerge victorious on Sunday to claw back points in the title race.
Discussion about this post