After getting a surprising pole-position, George Russell was dazzled, but wants Mercedes to understand everything to get a positive result in the race as well
A definitely surprising Saturday. George Russell simply flew in the last second of qualifying on Saturday (30), beating Carlos Sainz by a mere 0s044 and taking pole position for the Hungarian GP. The first of the year for Mercedes, the first for the young Englishman's career.
Russell did a lap in which he may not have had any of the best sectors of the track, but he was extremely fast in all of them. If he had been second before, ahead of Charles Leclerc, he also managed to beat Sainz by putting 1min17s377 on the timesheet. George gave Mercedes its first pole since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP.
"I'm over the moon, dazzled. Yesterday was definitely our worst Friday of the season and we worked so hard, we didn't know which direction to go," he said after the qualifying session.
"Then on the last lap, I did turn one, turn two, and the lap time kept dropping. I crossed the finish line, looked at the screen and saw that we got to first place and it was an amazing feeling. We need to look at that and understand it better. Anyway, it was a special day, no doubt about it," he added.
As Russell said, Mercedes had some difficulties getting the car right on Friday. The #63 himself asked for attention, as he felt the German team was far away from Red Bull and Ferraii. Now, with the position of honor, he has the chance to capitalize to the fullest in Hungary.
GRANDE PRÊMIO follows LIVE and INREAL TIME all the activities of the Hungarian GP weekend. On Sunday, the race is scheduled for 10:00 am (GMT-3).