Shovlin praises Russell and Hamilton: 'Kept it tidy'

As times from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were removed, two Mercedes drivers ended up in the top three in qualifying. George Russell (P2) may start from the front row of the grid on Sunday, and alongside Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton starts third and may try to make things difficult for the two drivers in front of him.

Hamilton and Russell 'keeping it tidy'

"We're very pleased with P2 and P3 on the grid for Sunday. Especially after a tough weekend in Japan. Of course we benefited from McLaren's misfortune. However, neither George or Lewis lost a lap to track limits throughout the entire qualifying session and that is important. We have to give them credit for keeping it clean," he continued.

"The sprint races are always a challenge and is made a lot easier by hitting the ground running with a good balance. We've struggled with the format so far this year, so it was really pleasing to see both cars running well at the start of first practice. The track is evolving so rapidly here that we were constantly adapting plans through the qualifying sessions," Shovlin said.

Carefree Friday for Mercedes in Qatar

Friday went fairly carefree for Mercedes, which has provided clear plans for Shovlin and his team. "We've got another qualifying to get through tomorrow, but it's good that the drivers are happy with the cars. We just need to get the tyres in the right place for the hotter conditions, but hopefully we can have another good session," he concluded.

Team boss Toto Wolff is not yet present in Qatar due to the recovery he needs, having been put under the knife. Earlier, the Austrian told us that he has recreated a pit wall at home that allows him to still intervene during the races. That was also needed over the weekend in Japan, as Russell and Hamilton were fighting quite a lot on the track with each other.