George Russell had to settle for second place on the grid for the Japanese GP on Saturday. The Mercedes driver seemed to have plenty of speed at Suzuka all weekend, but ultimately had to concede to teammate Kimi Antonelli and settle for the second-fastest time. During qualifying, he complained remarkably often about the drivability of his W17.
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The Briton had a difficult start to the Saturday session and openly admitted afterwards that it didn’t come naturally. “A very strange session for us,” Russell began. “We were both very fast all weekend. We made some adjustments after the third free practice, but at the start of qualifying, we were nowhere to be found.” The championship leader repeatedly pointed out the lack of rear grip to the team; footage shows the W17 struggling with oversteer.
‘Lucky to be on P2’
In the opening phase of qualifying, Russell was already facing a significant deficit, which he managed to reduce later on. However, pole position remained out of reach, and the Briton will have to dive into the data to find out exactly where things went wrong. “So I need to understand it even better; I was actually quite lucky to be on P2,” he added. Despite the disappointment, Russell remains combative ahead of the race. “The last two weekends things kept going wrong in qualifying, but the race is tomorrow and there is still a lot to be won.”
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Russell still leads the standings, although teammate Antonelli is following closely behind. If the young Italian manages to finish ahead of the more experienced Russell again at Suzuka, he will lose the lead. The difference between the two in qualifying was already stark; Antonelli took pole with a lead of no less than three-tenths.
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