George Russell admits he's 'STRUGGLING' after latest qualifying disaster

George Russell

Russell admits he's 'STRUGGLING' after latest qualifying disaster

The Brit was knocked out in Q2 on Friday to leave himself an uphill battle for the race

Joe Ellis

Sunday 2 July 2023 11:28

George Russell is refusing to be beaten despite failing to qualify in the top 10 for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old was knocked out in Q2, finishing 11th, having had multiple laps deleted due to exceeding track limits in his Mercedes.

Things did not get any better in sprint qualifying either as Russell's W14 suffered a hydraulics failure, meaning he could not get out in SQ2 and qualified in 15th.

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But despite his woes over one lap, Russell insists that all is not lost for the Silver Arrows who have tended to improve on race day.

George Russell will have to be in maximum attack mode to score good points at the Red Bull Ring

Russell: 'We weren't quick enough'

“Just not quick enough today," Russell told the media after qualifying. "I think from the first laps in practice, I just haven’t got the right feel with the car.

"It’s difficult when you go to a sprint race weekend. You don’t have a lot of time to make some changes. Let's see what we can do overnight into tomorrow.

“Obviously P11 is not the best starting position. But we’ve had some good results from further down the field so far this year.

"All is not lost, I think the tyre degradation looked pretty bad in practice, so probably looking like a two-stop race. Need to understand what’s going on at the moment, because I’m struggling a bit, especially on Saturdays.”