Formula 1 saw George Russell face unexpected difficulties at the start of qualifying for the Japanese GP. Even reacting throughout the session, the Mercedes driver was unable to keep up with his teammate’s pace and took second place on the grid.
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The result reinforces a recent pattern, as the Briton was once again outperformed by Kimi Antonelli in a decisive session. Still, Russell highlighted that there is room for improvement before the race, which will be held this Sunday.
After qualifying, the driver acknowledged that the team’s performance looked promising until the start of the session. “They did a great job again. It was a very strange session for us because we were fast all weekend,” he said.
According to him, changes made after FP3 ended up impacting the initial performance. “We made some adjustments after FP3 and, at the start of qualifying, we were completely off the pace,” he explained.
In Q1, Russell was far from the top of the table, about six-tenths slower than Antonelli. Despite this, he managed to reduce the gap throughout the following phases, showing recovery until Q3.
Still, the Briton admitted that it will be necessary to better understand what happened. “We need to analyze the data to understand what went wrong. I was even a bit lucky to finish second,” he said.
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This is the second consecutive weekend in which Russell has faced difficulties in qualifying. In the previous round, in China, car problems also compromised his performance on Saturday.
Despite the scenario, the Mercedes driver remained focused on Sunday. For him, the race performance can still compensate for the limitations shown in qualifying.
“In the last two rounds, things didn’t go as expected in qualifying, but points are decided in the race. There is still a lot at stake,” he concluded.
With Antonelli starting on pole position and Russell alongside him on the front row, the German team remains in a strong position to challenge for victory in Suzuka, even after a more complicated Saturday than expected for the Briton.
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