Russell reveals why he elected to go out early in SQ3

Having qualified only fifth on the grid on a day when his team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured his maiden F1 pole position, George Russell has conceded that he did not feel himself fully comfortable in his W16.

Having shown promising pace in the sole practice session, Andrea Kimi Antonelli continued to impress in qualifying. The 18-year-old looked quick on the mediums in SQ1 and SQ2 before he he went on to beat McLaren's Oscar Piastri, the championship leader, by 0.045 seconds.

Lando Norris appeared to be the quicker McLaren driver in qualifying, but he ended up third, a place behind his team mate Piastri. Reigning champion Max Verstappen elected to complete two laps in the final stage of the sprint qualifying, and he was right as his second lap was the quicker one, but it was still only enough for P4 on the grid.

With his stellar last push lap, the Bologna-born driver sealed his first ever P1 grid slot in style, at a track he has never driven before, in an incredible history-making effort.

As his team-mate George Russell looked incredibly quick in practice, most expected the Briton to be the one to push the McLarens for the pole position. However, Russell had to settle for fifth after opting to set his lap time earlier than the rest in SQ3 before the track had fully evolved.

Commenting on his qualifying day, "Firstly, massive congratulations to Kimi! I’m really pleased to see him take his first pole position. He’s been really quick right from the first lap in FP1 and that is really impressive. It is great for him and the whole team; hopefully he can convert that into a strong result in tomorrow’s Sprint.

As for his issues, Russell noted: "I’ve not felt at my most comfortable with the car today. I’ve been struggling a little and have just been a touch off the pace.

"I chose to go on the early side in SQ3 because I ultimately didn’t quite have the confidence to go in the pack at the end. I didn’t want to get caught by a yellow flag either, so we opted to play it safer.

"P5 is obviously not great, and we need to improve on that in tomorrow’s Qualifying. These Sprint weekends can be tricky, but we will do what we can to enjoy a better day than we have today."