George Russell managed to secure a fifth place finish despite a minor crash towards the end of qualifying
George Russell did not lose his fifth position by the chequered flag, despite a crash, as his rivals behind him failed to improve on his time. The Mercedes driver will therefore start the Sprint in fifth place (fourth now after Perez’s penalty) and in his own words – P5 definitely means they are ‘in for a fight’.
Russell believes that Mercedes can take heart from the pace they have shown relative to Red Bull and Ferrari in recent race weekends. The crashes (both Hamilton and Russell had crashes) marked a frustrating end to a promising qualifying session for Mercedes, who appeared to have the pace to potentially battle with Red Bull and Ferrari for the front rows of the grid. Russell says Mercedes have the potential to take the fight to their rivals over the rest of the weekend.
Speaking after the qualifying session, Russell seemed impressed with Mercedes’ improvement in terms of pace. “As a team, probably our best qualifying of the year in terms of pace, but probably the worst in terms of outcome. That’s racing. I’m personally going through a tricky couple of races, at the moment, but we’ve got tomorrow to make up for it”, Russell said on a positive note.
What does the starting grid look like for the Austrian GP Sprint?
The initial result of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix does not mean the provisional grid for Saturday’s sprint race. Sergio Perez set the fourth-fastest time, but because his lap time in Q2 was later ruled invalid by the stewards, he must start from 13th in Spielberg. As a result, many drivers move up a place.
George Russell set the fifth-fastest time on the Red Bull Ring but is one of the men to benefit. He will start from P4 and will try to attack the Ferraris. However, he will also have to look back, as Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen will also be lurking on winning a few places.
Mick Schumacher will mainly want to consolidate his seventh place, but that does not apply to drivers behind him such as Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The German may also see Perez in his mirrors at some point. The McLarens will also be hoping to gain a lot of ground in the 24-lap sprint race, as Friday’s qualifying was not great for Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.
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