Russell Expresses Frustration After ‘Disaster’ Qualifying: ‘Wasting Opportunities’

For the second season in a row, George Russell didn’t make it past Q1 in the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying. The Mercedes driver was frustrated because the team has been doing well lately, even getting pole positions.

Russell will start 17th on Sunday because he couldn’t set a fast enough lap time due to low fuel at the end of the session. He admitted, “Well, it was on me at the beginning. I didn’t think it was going to rain again. So, I just thought the track would get quicker. I took an easy lap one and suddenly it starts raining. That was the most important lap, but it didn’t matter. It was quickest at the end and we had no fuel in the car to finish the session. I have no idea how that happened. It was a total disaster.”

How is Russell feeling after his elimination?

This season, Mercedes has been stronger with poles in Canada and Silverstone and winning two races back-to-back. Despite this success, Russell knows they can’t lose focus: “You can never take your eye off the ball. We need to have a proper sit-down as a team to understand what’s going on,” he said.

Fans might think it’s really disappointing given their recent performance.

“We’ve got the car to be fighting for top three,” he added angrily, “We shouldn’t be standing here out of Q1.” Lewis barely made it into Q3 himself! Russell is optimistic about tomorrow but knows it’ll be tough: “A difficult race. Still expect to come through, maybe fighting for top 6 but from P17 it’s not going to be easy,” he concluded.

What do you think about Russell’s chances?