Third place for George Russell in Saudi Arabia: the Briton in the top three for the third time this season
Great qualifying for George Russell, who secured third place on the starting grid in Saudi Arabia. This important result marks his third top-three qualifying position of the season, confirming the excellent form of the British driver. While the Mercedes representative admits that he would have gladly accepted a P3 before the session, the small gap to the very front leaves him with a hint of regret.
Russell’s words after qualifying
As reported by GPblog, in the post-qualifying interviews, Mercedes’ number 63 expressed some disappointment for not achieving an even better result: “Yes, to be honest, before the session I would have definitely accepted third place, but when I saw how close we were, I was really happy with the lap, even though you always think there might have been a little bit more.”
Russell had temporarily taken provisional pole during Q3, before being beaten by Piastri and ultimately by Verstappen: “Being realistic, I think this was probably the best we could do today. We know that on high-speed corner circuits like this one, we still don’t quite have the pace of the McLarens, and of course Max did an outstanding job once again — so yes, congratulations to him. “.
With third place secured, the Mercedes driver now turns his attention to the race, aware that he has a good opportunity: “It was a really tricky session with the red flag halfway through and then that one lap at the end that really mattered. Starting third is still a great position, and tomorrow it’s going to be a long race“.
Photo: Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team
