18/10/2025 11:40
George Russell insists his Mercedes "definitely" could not have
secured pole position for the sprint at the United States Grand
Prix. The British driver set his final time earlier than his rivals
at the Circuit of the Americas, which cost him as the track
continued to evolve. Max Verstappen and the McLarens of Lando
Norris and Oscar Piastri went quicker than the W16, which could be
expected as Russell was shuffled down the order. However, Nico
Hulkenberg sprung a "real surprise" to usurp him ahead of the
leading trio getting their last push lap on the board. It is the
first time all season the Stake driver has reached Q3 of any
qualifying session. He will line up in fourth for the sprint. That
pushed Russell down the order to fifth. After the grid-setting
session, the 27-year-old was quick to put his performance into
context. When asked if he felt that was pretty much where he will
be for the rest of the weekend in Austin, the Mercedes driver
replied: "No. But could we have been on pole? Definitely not. "Nico
[Hulkenberg] did an amazing lap to go P4. I think that was a real
surprise, so congrats to him. "But as we've sort of been saying all
year, on the good days, we're in the fight, on the bad days, we're
P5 — and today wasn't a good day. We just got P5. Sprint races are
tricky sometimes." It was not all doom and gloom from the five-time
grand prix winner, however. He remains optimistic that his W16 is
better in race trim. "I think potentially we have a better race car
than we do qualifying car," Russell said. "We're struggling a lot
in the high speed, but I think when you're going a bit slower in
the race through the high speed, and the cars not as low to the
ground, it could be a bit faster. "But, yeah, I think this is
roughly where we're at, sort of in the fight for P4." Let us know
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