'Very ill' Russell reveals nightmare sleep issue ahead of Abu Dhabi qualifying

Russell in de garage op Silverstone — Photo: © LAT Images

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

'Very ill' Russell reveals nightmare sleep issue ahead of Abu Dhabi qualifying

The Brit has admitted to feeling under the weather

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 25 November 2023 20:57

George Russell has joked that he may 'need to be ill more often', after another good qualifying session put him fourth on the grid ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Brit was just 0.343 seconds behind pole sitter Max Verstappen, whilst his seven-time world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton failed to make it out of Q2.

Russell's performance was a huge boost for his Mercedes team, who needed to find some sort of response after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc managed to claim his fifth consecutive front row start.

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Heading into the season-ending race, there is just four points separating Mercedes from Ferrari in the battle for second in the constructors' championship.

George Russell put in a fine performance to take fourth during Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying

George Russell has left his qualifying battle with Lewis Hamilton all square after the final qualifying of the season

Mercedes are currently embroiled in a huge battle with Ferrari for second in the constructors' championship

Mercedes behind in Ferrari battle

Now Russell, who has also tied up his qualifying battle with Hamilton at 11-11, has admitted that his recent one-lap pace has come when he's least been expecting it.

“I’ve been really ill the last two weeks and I’ve been really, really quick so I don’t know if I need to be ill more often or what it is," he told Sky Sports F1 after the session.

"But last two weeks I’ve just felt super comfortable in the car. Had about, on average, three hours sleep per night so maybe that’s the secret everyone’s missing," he suggested, before going on to talk about his session.

“I don’t know, it’s mixed feelings right now," he said. "We definitely would have taken P4 ahead of the weekend. But after this morning’s performance, we were quickest every single lap, we only improved I think six tenths from practice to qualifying.

"Considering it was much colder, we had much less fuel in the car. We didn’t make the jump that we should have so that was a little bit disappointing.”

Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes Charles Leclerc George Russell