After Las Vegas, can Russell still claim victory in Qatar?

George Russell definitely likes to ride under the spotlight. Untouchable a week ago on the streets of Las Vegas, the driver Mercedes did not take his foot off the gas during the first laps in Qatar.

On Friday, he was one of the few to compete against Lando Norris. If the pilot McLaren led the Sprint Qualifying from start to finish, the Mercedes driver was often on par – to the point of provisionally setting the same time at one point – or almost. In SQ3, only George Russell finished less than a tenth behind Norris, missing out on pole position by just 63 thousandths.

A great and above all encouraging start which allows him, as well as Mercedes, to hope to fight again for the leading roles, and why not victory in order to brighten up a little more this delicate end of season for the Étoile. I felt very good throughout qualifying, he smiled into the Qatari night. The car was really great. This track is really one of the best, when you are in the rhythm it goes so fast.

I was flat out for the first time in the fast section on my flying lap in SQ3 and it obviously surprised the engine. I don't know how much time I lost, but I got really hot coming out of the corner because I was going flat out. »

For the rest, and in particular the Sprint Race this Saturday (15:00 p.m.), George Russell hopes to take advantage of the duel between McLaren and Ferrari among the Constructors to hope to steal the victory from them. We have nothing to loseHe says.

We will go all out, to aim for a big result. We will need a good start. Of course it is only the Sprint but we must also focus on qualifying. (19:00 p.m.). But so far so good »

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