“I thought Q2 would be a breeze”– George Russell shocked by Q1 exit in Hungary

Tanish Chachra | 01/08/2021

“I thought Q2 would be a breeze”– George Russell was stunned after missing a qualification into Q2 after a series of exceptional qualifying performances.

George Russell has certainly lifted Williams’ level in qualifying this year, where he regularly appeared even in Q3. But in Hungary, he had to leave out the qualifying after the first 20 minutes.

The Briton was expected to reach till Q2 at least, considering the Hungaroring has suited Williams well in the recent past, and Russell was disappointed to know he has been eliminated.

“Ahead of the weekend I thought Q2 would be a breeze,” Russell admitted. “And then, for whatever reason, I just haven’t had the same rhythm as I have at other circuits.”

“Ahead of the season, I would have said this would have been our strongest circuit and our best opportunity,” said Russell. “Yet it’s the first time we’ve not made it through to Q2. Obviously I’m a bit disappointed now, but as I said, we can’t get it right every time.”

Not sure what happened

Russell later tried to make sense of what happened and led to Williams’ underwhelming performance in Hungary. Though, during the Q1, it was witnessed that Russell had a hiccup during his final flying lap, which certainly slowed him down.

“It’s definitely windier and gustier than it has been at the last four events, which definitely does not play in our favour. It’s fine margins. Usually, I get going in qualifying and I’m in a groove and I can just pull the lap out.”

“And today I knew when I crossed the line, it just didn’t come together for me. I didn’t have that good feel, that right rhythm with the car, with the tyres.”

“I knew it wasn’t good enough. Usually it just sort of comes to me much easier and then when I go into Q2, I can make another step up from there.”

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
George Russell Williams

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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