Russell ‘buzzing’ to land first pole
FORMULA 1 Hungarian Grand Prix Today, 2pm
GEORGE RUSSELL took even himself by surprise after earning a maiden pole position for today’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Brit outpaced both Ferraris yesterday, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc second and third.
Russell’s Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton qualified seventh, while championship leader Max Verstappen could only manage 10th after suffering mechanical problems.
Sainz and Leclerc looked as though they had secured a front-row lockout for Ferrari only for Russell to snatch a shock result with a brilliant final lap at the twisty Hungaroring.
The King’s Lynn racer beamed: “I’m over the moon, absolutely buzzing.
“I came across the line and looked at the screen and saw P1 and it was an incredible feeling.”
Mercedes struggled for pace in practice but Russell pulled out one of the laps of his career in what was also a landmark for a team that has struggled with an uncompetitive car.
Asked on whether Mercedes were ‘back’, Russell, 24, added: “I don’t know to be honest, we need to look and understand where that came from. There’s a few ideas we had.
“Generally we had good race-pace but the Ferraris looked very fast on Friday.
“We are going to be absolutely going for it.
“Either way that was a pretty special day, no doubt.”
Fellow Brit Lando Norris took an impressive fourth for Mclaren, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
But on a poor afternoon for Red Bull, Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez, who finished 11th, was unhappy with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.
Mexican racer Perez had a time initially deleted over track limits, then later reinstated on video evidence – but he was still eliminated after possibly being blocked on his final flying lap by Magnussen.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel earlier this week announced he will bring the curtain down on his F1 career at the season’s final race in Abu Dhabi on November 20.
His one-and-a-half year spell with British team Aston Martin has been disappointing and there was further woe here when he crashed in final practice.
Vettel worked alongside his mechanics to repair his wounded machine in time for qualifying, but the German failed to make it out of Q1, qualifying 18th.