Russell knew he "had to make that final lap count" with only one set of fresh softs in Q3

Having struggled for outright pace in the opening stages of qualifying, Mercedes driver George Russell knew he "had to make that final lap count" with only one set of fresh softs in Q3.

Mercedes struggled for pace in the hot conditions on Friday. However, in the cooler conditions, the Brackley-based outfit had hoped that the cloud cover would improve its chances.

The German-British outfit managed to get both cars to the last segment of qualifying, but had to use an extra set of tyres to do so. As such, they could only go for one run on fresh rubber to their rivals’ two.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli displayed encouraging performance over the weekend, but he wound up seventh, albeit he will only start from P10 on the grid due to his penalty from the Austrian Grand Prix.

George Russell looked to struggle to match Antonelli's pace across the practice sessions, but he put in a good final lap to grab fourth place on the grid for his home grand prix.

Russell commented: "I am very happy with P4 today as we’ve been off the pace at the very front all weekend. I would have definitely taken that if I had been offered it at the start of the day.

"We only had one new set of Soft tyres for Q3 so we had to make that final lap count. I thought I managed a solid effort and, whilst it is slightly frustrating to be just over one tenth off pole and a few hundredths from the front row, we’ve given ourselves a good chance of fighting for the podium on Sunday.

"Tomorrow’s forecast is mixed which may offer some opportunities for us. We know just how changeable the weather can be here. It is also likely to be cooler and more overcast than we saw on Friday, so hopefully our long run pace is stronger than we showed in FP2.

"Whatever the situation, I am ready to give it my all at my home race and put on a show in front of this incredible British crowd," concluded Russell.