F1 News: George Russell Contradicts Lewis Hamilton's Spanish GP Qualifying Praise

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have differing perspectives on their Spanish GP qualifying performance.

Mercedes driver George Russel speaks at a press conference during preparation day for F1 at Circuit of the Americas on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Formula One Mlc 00388 / Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell painted slightly different pictures of their qualifying session, after securing third and fourth position, respectively.

George Russell, who secured fourth on the grid, expressed a mixture of satisfaction and surprise at the outcome of the qualifiers. Despite feeling positive about the car's performance, Russell noted a gap to competitors that was larger than anticipated. He explained to Sky Sports F1:

"I think we believed [we could challenge for pole], the car has been feeling great, and historically we have gone well here in Barcelona.

"I think the gap to Lando and Max was probably a little bit bigger than we expected.

"I don't think Lewis and I put the perfect lap together, we did good laps, but on a challenging track like this, you have to put the tyres in the right window and just find those last couple of tenths and that is what Lando managed to do today and we didn't.

"P3 and P4 is a really great place to fight tomorrow."

Looking ahead to the race, Russell remained optimistic about their starting positions, viewing P3 and P4 as advantageous. He underscored the significance of car performance over strategic manipulations with tyre degradation, asserting:

"I think on a circuit like this, the pace of the car will always win out. I think strategically, the tyre degradation, you can do some things with the strategy, but if you have got one tenth of pace in the car, that will always win out over strategy.

"For sure we will try something but we hope we have got the pace to fight with Max and Lando. I think we do have the pace to fight with Max and Lando for victory. I think we have had three races in a row with these upgrades. It is nice to be back in the mix." 

In contrast, Lewis Hamilton's reflections post-qualification focused significantly on the team's effort and the car's evolving competitiveness. Securing third on the grid, Hamilton felt immensely satisfied and grateful for the incremental improvements his team had achieved.

"I am really happy. I am super grateful to be in the top three. It has been quite a difficult year, there has been hard work from everyone back in the factory, and we are starting to see those incremental steps.

"I didn't expect to be in for pole necessarily but every now and then there looked to be bits that had us close. So to be there I am just grateful.

"We have made huge steps forward and it is really down to every single individual back at the factory who is working on design, pushing in making the new parts we get to bring to these races.

"Slowly the car is crafting into a racing machine with which we can hopefully fight the guys in front. George did a great job as well so hopefully tomorrow we can apply the pressure on the guys in front."