28/06/2025 18:10
George Russell does not believe he will receive any sanction in
Austrian Grand Prix qualifying as he faces a stewards'
investigation. The Mercedes driver qualified fifth but was summoned
to the stewards for an unsafe release in the pit lane during Q3 as
he barged into line in front of the two Ferrari drivers. Charles
Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton went past before Russell joined the fast
lane, but he was summoned for an alleged breach of the race
director's event notes in not joining the fast lane in the correct
manner. However, the Briton is confident that no sporting sanction
will be applied. "I mean, I went and then saw a few drivers pulling
out," Russell told media including RacingNews365. "But then you
have a massive blind spot, you don't have a window you can look
through and you can only move your head so much. "It is a massive
blind spot, so I've got to go to the stewards, but I don't expect
any issues, it is just part of it." As for his qualifying itself,
Russell felt the factors which had made Mercedes dominate in Canada
worked against it in Austria. "It was the maximum we could have
got," he explained. "The gap to everyone except Lando is quite
understandable, but the gap to Lando was bigger than we thought.
But we know our strengths and weaknesses, and this was never going
to be a strong race for us. "It is just a combination of
everything. The track is hot, the tarmac is pretty abrasive,
high-speed corners and it sort of all goes against us in the same
way as everything in Canada went for us. "We know where we need to
improve, so it is no major surprise, but it is a tough one to
swallow."
