Strong Qualifying Nets George P3 Start With Kimi P5 After Post-Session Penalty

Both drivers cruised through Q1 with little trouble, opting to take a second set of tyres for the second runs as the track began to ramp up.

A red flag in Q2 halted the session briefly, and upon the restart the team was noted for sending our cars into the fast lane of the pit lane before a resumption time of the session was announced. Post-session the drivers were demoted one grid penalty each.

On track, the drivers comfortably made it through to Q3 where a really strong opening lap from George saw him in provisional P2 while, unfortunately, Kimi’s initial lap was deleted for track limits.

In a tightly bunched pack, it all came down to the second and final runs, where George managed to put a stellar lap together to set the second fastest time, while Kimi pieced together his lap superbly with no margin for error to go fourth quickest.

George Russell

It was a really strong Q3. I wasn’t really feeling the strongest through Qualifying. I didn’t have the confidence and Q1 and Q2 were a real challenge. In Q3 I got back into my normal rhythm, put in some strong laps and I was really surprised to be so close to pole, ahead of one of the McLarens with Charles [Leclerc] up there too. Whilst we will ultimately start P3, it is still a good place to be for tomorrow.

This weekend is completely different to last weekend [in Japan]. I was really disappointed with P5 there. I felt we had the potential to qualify much higher up the order but this weekend I wasn’t expecting to be fighting for the front row – I thought P3 was going to be the maximum we could achieve today and we may have been down in P7 as the gaps have been so small. I don’t expect it to be a straightforward race tomorrow. I think Oscar [Piastri] is going to be very fast. The McLarens seem to be a long way ahead of the field when it comes to managing their tyres and we know that this will be key for tomorrow’s race. Let’s see what Sunday brings.

Kimi Antonelli

I made a mistake on lap one in Q3 and that put me on the back foot as I didn’t have a lap on the board. There was plenty of pressure to deliver on lap two, therefore. It wasn’t easy but I’m happy that I put together a decent lap. I made a few mistakes here and there across the session, but overall, it’s still my highest grid position of the season despite the post-session penalty and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. My confidence is continuing to build but I’m still learning. This is another good step forward for me.

I think the race will be a really tight fight. I think it’s going to be really hard to challenge the McLarens, but it’s definitely possible to fight the others. Tomorrow is a long race; our pace looks similar with others so getting a good start is going to be important and we’ll see what we can do from there.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

Today’s Qualifying went much better than we expected. We were hopeful of fighting for best of the rest behind the McLarens, so to post the second and fourth fastest times was pleasing. There is also plenty of learnings we can take from today. In the daytime heat of FP3, we were looking a long way adrift of the McLarens. As we headed into the evening, and the track conditions cooled, we continued to close the gap. It was still warm out there, but it definitely came a little more towards us. Both drivers executed their final laps well and put themselves in a good position for tomorrow.

Ultimately, following the post-session penalty, we will start P3 and P5 tomorrow. That still gives us a good chance of fighting for the podium. This is one of the most race pace-biased Grands Prix of the year so, if we have the pace in the car, both George and Kimi will hopefully be able to move forward.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

The final practice session was very challenging from a balance point of view. The hot track was causing a lot of overheating and the wind had shifted which always takes a little time for the drivers to adjust to. Rather like the first practice on Friday, it was hard to take much from it and we moved back towards our setups from the end of yesterday to give us a better chance of going into qualifying with a car that we understood.

The grip in the evening session was much better and we were showing good pace. Both drivers put in good laps and it was encouraging to see that the gap to the McLarens was much smaller. Both felt they could have improved on their time slightly which is encouraging but good to see that the car is performing well at a track where we have struggled in the recent past.

FP3 Result

Qualifying Result

*P3 and P5 following post-session penalties.