The seasonal ‘hat-trick’ in the Sprints
After securing pole position in the Sprint qualifying of the Dutch Grand Prix, George Russell maintained the lead also in the Sprint race over the scheduled 24 laps, claiming his third win of the season after Shanghai and Montreal. In a monotonous race almost completely devoid of overtakes, the English Mercedes driver reduced his gap in the standings from his teammate Kimi Antonelli (4th), commenting on his success: “It was a nice comeback – he said in the FIA press conference – we managed the tyres in the first phase of the race because I knew that if there were overtakes, they would happen in the last phase. We saw yesterday morning how fast Ferrari was, so we kept something in the tank for the end, and as soon as Charles passed Lando he actually picked up speed.” Speaking of Leclerc, Russell was surprised by the Monegasque’s choice to take part in the race on soft tyres: “I didn’t know Charles had the softs, but I didn’t consider the softs. I learned something new and it’s surprising to hear. It gives us one more option for tomorrow.”
A new battle for pole
A victory that erases the last disappointment of the Hungarian GP, where Russell lost several positions at the start. At the same time, the Brit prepares for this afternoon’s qualifying, where #63 believes there will still be a fight decided by thousandths of a second for pole position: “Today I wasn’t nervous before the start. In Hungary there was a technical problem before the start and I couldn’t do anything about it, so we took some precautions to prevent it from happening again. Surely now confidence is higher than it was twenty-four hours ago, but we are all close. Yesterday there was only a tenth between the top four drivers, and Kimi and Lewis were also fast during the session. There are probably six drivers who will fight for pole, and it depends on the lap. Q3 can go any way.”
Rain danger averted
Shortly before the checkered flag, heavy rain fell on Zandvoort that could have changed the outcome of the Sprint, even more so for Russell: “If the rain had come even 90 seconds earlier, it probably would have been a totally different race, at least for me. When you approach turn 1 at 320 km/h, the driver behind can see if there is a lock-up or if you go straight on in the corner, and so can adapt, but it wouldn’t have been a very pleasant situation for me. It probably would have been the same for Charles, maybe a little better for Lando and Kimi.”
Read more The ‘delayed’ downpour spares the Sprint, Lambiase teases Verstappen: «It would have been fun»
The updates
In conclusion, Russell focused on the timing related to Mercedes’ updates, with the team still leading despite the novelties brought by direct competitors: “I think we have a very strong car with a very fast pace. We clearly had a considerable advantage at the start of the season, and only time will tell if we chose the best compromise in the timing chosen to bring the updates. Maybe we were a bit surprised that our rivals kept bringing updates. We don’t know what they have in store, it’s a bit of a challenge today with the cost cap to find the right balance. Surely we have to be happy with what we are doing.”
