George Russell was in a playful mood after securing P3 in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but was told to ‘have some decorum’ by Natalie Pinkham after an awkward interview
Mercedes star George Russell couldn’t help but chuckle during his Sky Sports post-qualifying chat at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, thanks to a humorous slip of the tongue discussing tyre strategy.
The 27-year-old driver had just scored a P3 start on the grid at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, coming in right behind the pole position nabbed by Max Verstappen and eventual winner Oscar Piastri in P2.
Piastri was a hair’s breadth away from the top spot, missing it by only a tenth of a second. Meanwhile, Lando Norris took P10 after a crash curtailed his first Q3 attempt.
As Russell touched on the potential tyre choices for the opposition, he amusingly said Norris would “put the hard on” straight out of the gates, reports the Express.
The Brit quickly clocked the double entendre, pausing with an amused grin before playfully calling out a crew member off-camera for smiling and unwittingly disrupting his flow.
Handing back to Natalie Pinkham, the Sky Sports F1 presenter couldn’t resist teasing Russell, advising him light-heartedly to “have some decorum.”
Overall, Russell was uncertain about his P3 starting grid position, shining some light on how small the margins for error are during qualifying sessions.
“I’m a little bit mixed feelings, to be honest, because I went quite conservative on my out-lap with my tyres,” explained Mercedes lead Russell.
“Because it was my one and only lap and I had no banker on the board, I just felt that if I made a small mistake at Turn One or a lock-up, I’d have been down in P10.
“And usually, your last lap in Q3, you’re fully, fully sending it. I thought I needed to go a bit hotter with my tyres, just to ensure there’s no mistakes at Turn One, and it cost me in the last sector.
“I lost a tenth and a half from myself on the last sector. The lap otherwise was great. It’s thrilling around here, and you’re so close to a mistake at any point. But P3 is probably more than we could have hoped for.”
McLaren’s Piastri continued his dominant start to the Formula 1 season with another win at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with pole-sitter Verstappen having to settle for P2 on the back of a key penalty.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium in third, whilst Norris lost ground at the Drivers’ Championship table’s summit as he could only muster P4 – a valiant effort from a P10 start.
Russell, on the other hand, surrendered his second-row beginnings to only land in P5, with young team-mate Kimi Antonelli coming in just behind him, but ahead of ex-Mercedes man and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in P7.
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