George Russell says his surprising fourth place finish for the Baku sprint race has left Mercedes scratching their heads as their Formula 1 car seems to accelerate as the weekends go on.
The Briton had a frustrating time during qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday, as a mistake in his final Q2 run saw him knocked out of the session and 11th on the grid.
But without being allowed to change the car’s set-up much due to the closed park rules, Russell was able to put in a much more competitive performance as he secured a second row spot in the shootout qualifying session Saturday morning sprint.
Reflecting on the encouraging pace of the sprints, Russell admitted there was a bit of discomfort as he showed what he should have been able to do on Friday.
However, he also stressed that Mercedes needs to get to the bottom of why the W14 only seems to come into its element at weekends and especially in the Q3.
“I have mixed feelings,” Russell admitted. “I’m very happy with the work in qualifying and I think P4 is exceeding our expectations. But when I got back to the pitlane I said: bugger!
“I still made that mistake yesterday and it shows what was probably possible, but you can’t always be on your A game.
“But it’s interesting. We always seem to get better as qualifying goes on, we always get into our own Q3 and as the weekend goes on, so there’s something to learn.”
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14, leaves the garage
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Russell said Mercedes had some ideas as to why the W14’s potential never seems to be fully unlocked until Q3, but nothing definitive yet.
“We don’t purposely make the car in such a way that it apparently keeps getting better,” he said.
“We’ve got some ideas as to why that might be, but like I said, I’m glad I went around it or let’s say I improved my driving because obviously the car is still the same as yesterday.”
While Russell had few complaints after the sprint shootout, team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished sixth after missing out on a potential tow in his SQ3 race.
“Actually, the sessions were going very well,” he said. “Q1 and Q2 were going well, but on my last lap I just struggled with the rear and didn’t get a tow at the end.
“The Red Bulls went too far. So it was a bit unfortunate, but I gave it my all and that’s all you can ask for.”
