Williams seeking Q3 hat-trick at "bizarrely good" Hungary

Russell at Silverstone — Photo: © LAT Images

Hungarian Grand Prix

Williams seeking Q3 hat-trick at "bizarrely good" Hungary

Russell has featured in Q3 at both of the last two races

Sam Hall

Wednesday 28 July 2021 13:52

Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson believes there is a "good chance" George Russell can reach Q3 for the third consecutive time at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Although having featured in Q3 last year in his one-off Mercedes outing, Russell had never secured a Q3 berth in his time with Williams in F1 until the Austrian Grand Prix two races ago.

The 23-year-old immediately followed this up with a stunning performance at Silverstone last time out to score his best-ever result in the three-part session, setting the eighth fastest time.

“Can we replicate it in Hungary?" questioned Robson. "It’s hard to know.

"[It’s] a completely different track to the last couple we have been to, completely different set up. That said, bizarrely, we have been quite good in Hungary the last couple of seasons relative to other circuits so the car does generally go well there and George does seem to drive particularly well there.

“I think there is a good chance we will be there or thereabouts.

“Obviously, the last two races we have got there which has been great. I think probably it is a little bit early to say whether that is going to be something that is a regular occurrence.

There is no doubt George is driving extremely well at the moment but then he always has done and has almost always, if not always, delivered in qualifying."

Evening qualifying aids Williams progression

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In order to ensure qualifying reached a peak audience, the Friday running at the British Grand Prix was moved to a later slot in the day, making use of the longer summer daylight hours to achieve a primetime evening positioning.

Robson suggested the cooler temperatures that accompanied this later hour played a crucial role in Russell's ability to replicate his Red Bull Ring success.

He added: “If I’m completely honest, I thought it would be harder for us to achieve than in Austria.

“The evening qualifying session I thought worked really well and was particularly good for us because the slightly cooler conditions, the very calm conditions we had were really quite rare for Silverstone I think and that probably played to the strengths of the car quite well."