New Mercedes acquisition Russell: 'That really compromises you'

George Russell only just made it to Q2 during the qualifying session of the Italian Grand Prix and had to settle for fifteenth position. The driver was satisfied with the result.

Russell saw that his team didn't have it easy in Italy. "It has been a really tricky day, and we aren’t quite as competitive here as we would have hoped. Since we hit the ground with FP1 we weren’t in the right window with the car and that really compromises you on a weekend like this," he told Sky Sports.

However, the driver expects to see improvement. "I think we are in a better position for the Sprint Qualifying tomorrow than we were today, but generally I think it’s going to be a tough weekend. However, we need to build momentum and see what we can achieve."

Williams starts from the back of the grid in sprint race

His teammate Nicholas Latifi didn't get much further in the final standings. The Canadian set the sixteenth fastest time, meaning he and Russell will have to start the sprint race pretty much from the back.