Wolff reveals what Mercedes needed to grab pole position at Singapore
After George Russell grabbed a surprise pole position in yesterday's qualifying session at the Singapore Grand Prix, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff revealed that the Brackley-based outfit carried out some vital setup tweaks following Friday's practice sessions.
Despite his crash on Friday, George Russell managed to bounce back on Saturday to secure pole position for the 16th running of the Singapore Grand Prix.
It was the Mercedes driver’s seventh career pole, his second this year, following on from Montreal, where he went on to win the race. Russell’s best time was a 1m 29.158s, set on his second Q3 run, seven thousandths quicker than his earlier lap that would have also been good enough for pole. This is Mercedes’ fourth Singapore pole, its first since 2018 and its 143rd in total.
His team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli also looked strong across all qualifying segments. However, his approach in Q3 was slightly overambitious, and the Italian made a few mistakes on his final two qualifying laps, but he still grabbed fourth place on the grid.
Reflecting on the Russell's unexpected pole position, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff revealed that the Brackley-based outfit carried out some vital setup tweaks following Friday's practice sessions.
"The improvements we made to the car overnight certainly helped both drivers today. Both George and Kimi were more comfortable in FP3 and showed solid pace to be in amongst the top five. They carried that speed into qualifying and converted it into strong positions for Sunday’s race.
"After his accident in FP2, George spent FP3 and Q1 building his confidence with the car. He always had more margin to push and used that when it mattered to produce two stunning laps in Q3. He has been incredibly strong all year, and this was yet another great performance.
"For Kimi, he has been on George’s pace all weekend and that is very encouraging for him following on from a good weekend in Baku. Whilst he couldn’t quite put his ultimate lap together in Q3, he still has a good opportunity to fight for the podium tomorrow from P4."
Signing off with a word for the race, Wolff added: "We have only managed one long run so far this weekend so there are plenty of unknowns heading into the race.
"Looking after the rear tyres is critical for a good result and hopefully we have taken a step forward with that with recent upgrades. If we can do so, and given our starting positions, then we can look forward to a competitive showing."
