Russell expressed his satisfaction with his qualifying lap, mentioning that he felt there wasn’t much more he could have extracted from the car. He also acknowledged Hamilton’s strong performance throughout the weekend, pushing him hard.
Looking ahead to the race, Russell expects Mercedes to be in a stronger position, considering their historical trend of performing better on Sundays. However, he also acknowledged the presence of surprises on the grid, such as Fernando Alonso starting in P9 for Aston Martin and Sergio Perez’s early elimination in Q1. Russell believes these out-of-position drivers could present additional challenges during the race.
