George Russell has set his sights on victory in the sprint race for the Qatar Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver, who narrowly missed pole position on Friday thanks to Lando Norris, is determined to give his McLaren rival a hard time. While the papayas are fighting for the constructors’ title, according to Russell, Mercedes has ‘absolutely nothing to lose’.
Just a few days ago, George Russell was the big winner in Las Vegas. Amidst Max Verstappen’s championship celebration, the Brit celebrated a victory and a one-two for Mercedes. The W15 seemed to perform well on the opening day at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar, giving Russell hope for a strong result in the Saturday race.
“They (McLaren) are fighting for the championship, but we have absolutely nothing to lose,” Russell responded after the sprint qualification in Qatar. “We are going for the best results and trying to get off to a good start. So far, everything is going according to plan. The car felt great and this circuit is fantastic. Once you get into a certain flow, everything feels incredibly fast,” he explained.
However, Russell was disappointed that he couldn’t clock the fastest time. The Mercedes driver also knew exactly where he had dropped the ball during SQ3. “On my last lap, I went full throttle through the high-speed corners for the first time,” he explained. “I think that confused the engine a bit. I lost some speed coming out of the last corner.” Despite this inconvenience, Russell doubted whether he could have beaten polesitter Lando Norris. “He was out of reach today,” he concluded.
