George Russell queries ‘not fair assessment’ after Sky F1 question

George Russell has revealed he had a power steering issue in Q3 in Las Vegas, which put himself out of contention for pole position.

Put to him by Sky F1 that his previous press conference comments around McLaren worked out differently in qualifying, Russell felt his own pace was an indicator of how he could have been in the hunt for pole, had he not suffered an issue.

George Russell reveals costly issue in fight for Las Vegas GP pole

Qualifying in extremely difficult wet conditions in Las Vegas, Russell’s Mercedes teammate, Kimi Antonelli, was knocked out in Q1 as drivers fought to navigate both the low-grip nature of the city’s streets, combined with standing water that did not move easily in the cool night weather.

Having found himself in pole position contention heading into Q3, Russell was unable to put as fast a lap together as he would have liked, with his steering going heavy and making his car harder to control, with Lando Norris going on to take pole.

Ahead of the weekend, Russell was asked in the pre-race press conference if he had seen McLaren as being a rival on paper, to which he felt the Las Vegas Strip Circuit had elements of other circuits where the Woking-based squad had not quite lived up to par.

Asked if he saw McLaren as being directly in the hunt, Russell replied: “Honestly? No, I don’t think so.

“If I took Mercedes out of the equation, and I were to guess who would win this weekend, I think this would be a circuit where McLaren would struggle more than usual.

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“This circuit has some similar characteristics to [Montreal and Baku]. When you talk about the coldness, the type of tarmac, the C5 tyre, and then obviously low downforce, Baku is the same as as Las Vegas.

“But there’s always these surprises and I think it’s so close in Q3 now between so many teams, if you can do a magic lap, and you can start from pole position, your whole weekend changes.

“They’ll be there and thereabouts, but I think Red Bull will probably have a better chance.”

Asked if McLaren’s pole therefore came as a surprise, along with if he felt his car had not been what he expected in qualifying by Sky F1, Russell replied: “I don’t think that’s a fair assessment.

“We were quickest in FP3, quickest in Q1 and quickest in Q2, and I had an issue with the power steering in Q3 and qualified fourth.

“Lando [Norris] did an amazing job, and these conditions are obviously very challenging, and ultimately it always comes down to that last lap.

“That last lap is key, and unfortunately, in Q3, I had this problem. I’m not saying I would have been there with Lando, he clearly did an amazing job, but it was just a shame that it went away from us at the key moment.”

“I had a steering issue in Q3,” Russell added told print media after the session.

“I don’t know what it was, like a power steering issue. It was a real shame…I thought I had to stop the car on track because I couldn’t turn the steering properly.

“I don’t know what it was. I feel fortunate to have qualified P4 considering, but of course, it feels like a missed opportunity.”

Multiple drivers after the session, including the likes of Oliver Bearman, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, said the conditions facing them in Las Vegas were among the most difficult of their respective careers.

Given the rain and low-grip surface, however, Russell referred back to another weekend in those conditions for a trickier weekend.

Put to him that others had said qualifying in Las Vegas was among the trickiest weather to navigate of their careers, Russell replied: “That’s probably the drivers who haven’t driven in Turkey in 2020.

“Everybody knew it was going to be challenging. No tyres are designed for this type of circuit.

“It wasn’t fun at all, but it’s a nice challenge. You don’t want it to be the same every week. It’s a nice challenge.”

Norris will start on pole for Saturday night’s race, with Max Verstappen joining him on the front row.

Williams driver Carlos Sainz put his car into the top three, with Russell starting fourth ahead of Norris’ main title rival, Oscar Piastri.

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