George Russell happy to see no ‘fast-starting Ferrari zoom by’ after quali gap

George Russell said he was thankful those around him on the sprint grid have Mercedes engines after Ferrari got the jump on him last time out in Melbourne.

An easy Mercedes win threatened to be disrupted by an excellent start from Charles Leclerc in particular but that is not a challenge Russell will have to deal with in the sprint.

George Russell happy to see Ferrari down the grid

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Mercedes’ dominance over the grid was further asserted in China with Russell qualifying 0.621 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and a first sprint win for the Briton looks likely on Saturday.

The only obstacle that would likely have been the Ferraris who could have passed Russell at the start and hoped they could hold him off over the shorter race distance, Lewis Hamilton being in P4 and Leclerc in P6 makes that unlikely.

Russell then was thankful those around him were also equipped with Mercedes engines which have not been able to replicate the lightning starters.

“Expect the unexpected, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “My practice start this morning was much better, probably one of my best of the season.

“We’re obviously improving so much in that regard, and the full focus since Melbourne has been on how we can improve those starts thankfully, the two guys around me are two Mercedes engines, so hopefully there’s not going to any fast-starting Ferrari zoom by.”

More from the Chinese GP from PlanetF1.com

* George Russell storms to Chinese Grand Prix Sprint pole ahead of Kimi Antonelli
* Briatore: Alpine negotiations are with Mercedes, not Toto Wolff
* Fernando Alonso warns Aston Martin still limited by Honda power unit spares

As for the race, Russell pointed towards graining being his biggest concern at this circuit.

“I think we struggle with graining,” he said. “We saw last year, graining was quite a factor. Tires were dropping off, so let’s see what we can do.

“The car has been really great this whole day, and also the engine is performing more, let’s say, normal, compared to what we saw in Melbourne.

“It was a bit challenging to drive. It was a bit challenging in Q3 because the wind picked up, and I think us and McLaren sort of lost a bit of speed in the straight, but the car has been really great.”

Read next: Toto Wolff points to ‘very different’ McLaren choice amid Mercedes power unit debate

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