George Russell has revealed a major flaw of Sprint Qualifying.
Russell had a terrible sprint session, as he stared at his teammate’s car from the back all race. He also took a lot of damage to his front wing at the beginning of the race. Throughout the sprint, he had to drive with that damage, and was lucky to not finish any lower than where he did.
Russell finished P15 behind Nicholas Latifi. He created unwanted history, ending a streak of 51 starts out-qualifying his teammate. However Russell focused on something else, and that was the nature of the sprint race itself. He is not a huge fan of the concept, and has revealed a major flaw of Sprint Qualifying.
During the post-sprint interview, Russell said, “It was a tricky race, we just had a little problem that we were struggling with from the beginning.
“But, yeah, I don’t know. I think, to be honest about the sprint race, I think it’s great we have action on each day. But, for me, it’s a little bit too short, and everybody’s just pushing flat-out every lap and the cars are so close.
“There’s no big enough difference between the car in front. And you only feel this when you have a different strategy or the tires are getting a bit older or a bit newer than the car ahead.
“And it probably just isn’t long enough to give you that opportunity. So, I guess we need to look back, review it,” he concluded.
Uphill battle for Russell
Russell’s lacklustre position means he starts in a difficult spot on Sunday. Williams has looked slow and unconvincing all weekend, and they will be worried about getting a good position ahead of Alfa Romeo.
But if the past versions of the Italian GP are anything to go by, we might see the biggest of surprises. Williams have scored more points this season than in recent seasons, so one can expect them to pull another rabbit out of the hat.
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