George Russell starts Sunday from P2 during the Italian GP. The Brit seemed the favorite for pole position after the free practice sessions, but ultimately had to yield to a surprisingly fast Pierre Gasly. A ‘disappointing’ result, the Mercedes driver admitted. Earlier on Saturday, Russell had already lost once to Gasly, but in qualifying he failed to get his revenge.
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“I have to first congratulate Pierre (Gasly, ed.), what a great performance from him,” Russell responded afterwards. “About fifteen minutes before qualifying we were still playing chess against each other, and he already beat me then. I thought: ‘I’ll get you back in qualifying’, but well, here we are,” he laughed.
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“Of course I’m disappointed not to be in first place, but it was a bit of a messy session,” Russell continued seriously. “Pierre and Alpine have just been very fast from the very first moment. So I am happy for them.”
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