George Russell secured pole position for the Sprint of the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, while his teammate Kimi Antonelli took fifth place despite a damaged car.
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With only one free practice session before the Sprint qualifying, Russell admits it was difficult to perfectly prepare for the exercise, especially since the soft tires were only used in SQ3.
“It’s great to be back here after the break, it’s a track I like and that requires commitment. It was a tough first half of the season and I’m happy to achieve this result,” the Briton said happily.
Russell: a lap was far from perfect
“The lap wasn’t very good. It’s always difficult in Sprint Qualifying because you only have one flying lap on soft tires. The track is always improving, but it went well. The McLarens seem fast, the Ferraris seem fast, but I’m happy to do this lap when it counts.”
The Mercedes driver nevertheless refuses to get carried away, reminding that the main points will be awarded on Sunday: “It’s only pole for the Sprint and the big points are on Sunday, so I stay focused.”
On the other side of the Mercedes garage, Kimi Antonelli had a much more eventful session. On his first lap in SQ1, the Italian went off into the gravel at the last corner, seriously damaging the floor of his car: “There was a lot of damage. I had several holes in the floor,” Antonelli confirmed.
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Damaged floor for Antonelli
Mercedes tried to make repairs, but the loss of performance remained significant: “When I came back, they first told me we had lost 25 downforce points. They tried to repair as much as possible, but the damage was clearly still there. I had a lot of difficulties in slow corners.”
Antonelli admits responsibility for the incident after approaching the last corner with too much speed: “I had a bit too much speed at the entry of the last corner on that first lap. I lost the rear and went into the gravel.”
Despite a degraded car and confidence to rebuild throughout the session, the young driver managed to secure fifth place. He will start just behind Russell, Norris, Leclerc, and Piastri: “We were still quite close and we will have another chance tomorrow. It’s very tight at the front, so it won’t be easy to overtake, but we will do our best despite the damage.”
Mercedes will now have to fully repair Antonelli’s car before the Sprint, while Russell will try to convert his pole into a win over the 100 kilometers race.