In Barcelona the Bolognese will start third but is optimistic: “I’m starting from the good side, I have a good chance for the GP. I had difficulties with the single lap”. The Englishman on pole: “This weekend I told myself to trust my instincts, my set-up and my direction, I feel like myself again”
Mercedes will enter tomorrow’s Barcelona GP with a pole position and a second row. George Russell will start in front of everyone after having achieved the best time in qualifying, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished third at the end of a more complicated Saturday than expected. For the Italian world championship leader, qualifying was conditioned by the difficulties encountered throughout the weekend on the flying lap. The World Championship leader admitted that he was never able to fully exploit the potential of the tires in the high temperatures of Montmelò. “This weekend was a little more complex, but more on the single lap. I think the long run was very positive in FP2, but in qualifying and this weekend in general I was doing a bit of overdriving, I was pushing a bit too much for the conditions. It’s really hot, the tires struggle to last for a lap, so I was never able to extract the maximum out of the tire for the entire duration of the lap.”
good chance
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Despite third place, Antonelli looks forward to the race with confidence, convinced that the pace shown in the simulations can represent a strong point in view of a race that promises to be marked by tire degradation. “Even if I’m not happy with P3, it’s still not a bad position, because I’m on the clean side and getting to Turn 1 is long. I think we have a good chance for tomorrow. The pace is good, but it will be really important to manage the tire as best as possible. I think we’ll see many more stops and it will be important to maximize each stint to have the best chance to win or stay on the podium.”
George smiles
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The one smiling, this time, is above all Russell, who scored the pole position at the end of a weekend that he defines as a personal relaunch after some difficult races. The Englishman explained that he had regained confidence by returning to his own driving sensations and abandoning some choices made in previous months. “In Canada I was on pole and had come from a very difficult weekend, but I was happy with my performance during practice, Q1 and Q2. For a certain period I tried to copy what Kimi was doing, because it had worked very well in Miami, and it was a mistake on my part. This weekend I said to myself: total reset, let’s go back to trusting my instincts, my set-up and my direction.” A choice that produced immediate results. Russell has been consistently in the top positions since free practice and turned that competitiveness into pole position. “Every lap this weekend we have been in the top two positions. I really had this feeling from the first session. Even if Lewis had finished on pole and I had finished second, I would have been delighted with how the weekend has gone so far, because I feel like myself again.”
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