Russell: 'I don't think anyone really understands'

George Russell had to settle for sixth position during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Afterwards, the Briton spoke to Sky Sports F1 and revealed that he is not yet satisfied with the performance of his car.

On joining Mercedes, Russell hoped to be in contention for the world championship, but nothing is further from the truth for the time being. The car of the German racing team is not competitive enough to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari, so it is currently in the sub top of the driver field.

Also in Australia, Mercedes was looking for the right set-up, once again suffering from porpoising. It provided Russell with a difficult qualification. A sixth time Saturday morning put the driver just behind teammate Lewis Hamilton, while he kept Daniel Ricciardo behind him.

"I don't think anyone really understands what's going on with these cars and tires. We are running on the softest tire and some teams can do four or five laps with it and other teams can only do one. It's going to be tricky, but it will work itself out," says Russell, who continues to suffer from problems with the car at Mercedes. "McLaren and Red Bull have no porpoising."