Russell: "It’s great to have Lewis with me for the start"

Once is not customary, the format of the sprint races, often questioned, managed to keep us on the edge of our seats this Saturday. The Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton fought at the front. The silver arrows seem very competitive on this track. Carlos Sainz wedges himself between the two drivers of the German team, unfortunately the Spanish driver

Is penalized by 5 positions on the starting grid and will start from 7th position this Sunday.

George Russell delivered a superb battle with Max Verstappen for the race lead. The British driver managed to gain the upper hand over the two-time reigning world champion in the second half of the race. He won this sprint race and secured the first pole position of his career.

« I didn’t expect us to have so much pace. We showed that we have made great progress… It’s great to have Lewis by my side for tomorrow’s start. Max will definitely come back strong against us during the race, we will probably have to split our strategies. »

Carlos Sainz took advantage of the battle between Russell and Verstappen to overtake the Dutchman and settle himself in second place on the podium of the sprint race. However, he will not benefit from the result of this race due to his penalty.

« I damaged my tires a bit while attacking, I had to be aggressive because of my penalty… This second place is the best result I could achieve today. We have a good pace this weekend but we will have to have a great race tomorrow if we want to beat Red Bull and Mercedes.

»

Lewis Hamilton delivered an impressive sprint race on Saturday. The seven-time world champion started from 8th place on the grid and quickly moved up to the front. He secured the third position in the final laps of the race by overtaking Max Verstappen’s damaged Red Bull.

What we have achieved today represents the intense efforts of those who work at the factory to improve the car. It’s incredible for us to be at the forefront tomorrow. We will have to work as a team.