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George Russell hopes for a good qualifying after FP2 in Monaco

Here's where George Russell predicts he will qualify in Monaco

24 May at 19:45
  • Toby Nixon

Like his Silver Arrows teammate Lewis Hamilton, George Russell also had a positive first day in the principality despite a small issue. Russell spoke to Sky Sports after FP2 in Monte Carlo, stating that he is hoping for at least a top-five tomorrow in his Mercedes W15.

Russell firstly spoke about the steering wheel issue that plagued his running time. "I mean, as soon as I touched the brakes, the whole thing was shaken to bits, so I don't know what was going on. I tried my best, holding as hard as I could, like a gorilla trying to hold onto it. The thing kept shaking. So on a track like this, where you need confidence to attack, it really set us back. We just decided it was best to call it a day during the long run and try and analyse what was going on."  

"Well, we know how quickly everything changes, so definitely today has been one of our best Fridays," said a confident Russell. "The car felt the best I've ever felt around Monaco. So lots of positives, everybody's developing so quickly at the moment and we see how quick the lap times are today compared to last year. We're way, way quicker. Potentially breaking the lap records, somebody will probably do tomorrow. Hopefully, it'll be us! It’s feeling good and we're seeing good weather there as well."

Relaxed Russell predicts his qualifying position

When asked whether or not he could put a number on his performance in terms of qualifying, Russell remained confident, despite Mercedes' tendency to fall off the pace after Friday's. "I'm going to say top five, I hope, top five. But as I said, it changes so quick, you've got all these surprises, who knows."