Wolff - Russell pole 'inexplicable' in "painful exercise" year
Wolff - Russell pole 'inexplicable' in "painful exercise" year
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was at a loss to explain the first pole of George Russell's F1 career in a year he claims has been "a painful exercise".
Out of the blue, following a shocking day of Hungarian Grand Prix practice on Friday and a miserable wet FP3 when neither Russell nor team-mate Lewis Hamilton could generate any heat in the tyres, the younger Briton delivered a lap to savour.
Russell pipped Ferrari's Carlos Sainz to top spot on the grid at the Hungaroring by 0.043s, and now has a maiden F1 victory in his sights with a dry Sunday forecast and around a circuit where it is notoriously difficult to overtake.
Asked to explain what he had just witnessed, Wolff said: "I have no explanation.
"I said to Shov [Andrew Shovlin] to write down everything we did today from this morning onwards, including the food, to retrace why it's going so well.
"But honestly, this season has been an oscillation between depression and exuberance, sometimes changing from day to day.
"Yesterday we tried things that didn't work at all but gave us a bit more direction for today.
"To be honest, this year is a painful exercise, and today is one of the days where against all tendencies of the season, where we've been really bad in qualifying but performing well on the Sunday, we've actually unlocked some potential in the car.
"If we can prove tomorrow our race pace hasn't suffered then I would see us back in a solid position."
Wolff's emotional rollercoaster
Russell's lap came together at the end of a session that had seen Hamilton suffer from a DRS issue that took away the chance of a front-row lockout.
But whilst Hamilton was abandoning his lap, Russell was setting the timing screens alight with his sector times having already impressed on his used tyre run at the start of Q3.
Asked for his emotions during the pole lap, Wolff said: "It was quite an interesting experience because we knew it was going quick on our used soft. We were already quite competitive.
"Then we put on the new tyre and the first reaction was 'No! The DRS is stuck on Lewis' car'.
"Then the first sector came in and we see the delta time running and I remember saying to the engineers, I think we are playing for pole here, and there was silence on the other side.
"After sector two, yes, it was going to be awfully tight.
"These are the moments I cherish in Formula 1, it comes unexpected but the performance is really there and you do it."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 fan celebrates Verstappen failure with OUTRAGEOUS permanent change
- 38 minutes ago
Wolff opens up on WHY Mercedes are 'very bad'
- 1 hour ago
F1 winner Sainz shares RAW images from surgery and recovery
- 2 hours ago
Hamilton and Cullen F1 fairytale COULD happen as clues reveal how
- 3 hours ago
F1 News Today: Vettel CONFIRMS stunning comeback as Red Bull boss issues Verstappen statement
- Today 05:57
Hamilton fired serious warning by Wolff as F1 star takes aim at controversial FIA decision - GPFans F1 Recap
- Yesterday 23:57
F1 Race Calendar
-
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
Carlos Sainz
- GP JAPAN 5 - 7 Apr
- GP CHINA 19 - 21 Apr
- GP USA 3 - 6 May
- GP ITALY 17 - 19 May
- GP MONACO 24 - 26 May
Related news
Wolff opens up on WHY Mercedes are 'very bad'
Bizarre F1 curse BLAMED for Russell crash
F1 pundit SLAMS Mercedes as Hamilton woes continue
Hamilton labelled 'best that's ever walked the earth' after INCREDIBLE display
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860