Russell defends his pole: “There was only one yellow flag.” And he explains ‘keep calm’ on the radio

Russell is on pole and the others are tough. After all, he was right, at least from a regulatory perspective. George Russell can celebrate pole position by qualifying for the Austrian GP, ​​and it doesn’t matter that controversy is brewing everywhere over his time at the last possible attempt, which was recorded as the yellow flag waved for Max Verstappen’s exit at the final corner. According to the stewards, the British driver had slowed down sufficiently and therefore his best time could not be disputed. “I saw there was one yellow flag and I had to lift my foot, the accelerator, too much and after the corner there was a green light. “Obviously I would have liked to have completed the lap without lifting my foot, because I would have been three or four tenths ahead, but I lifted my foot in that corner,” Russell told Sky Sport F1 at the end of qualifying. “Keeping calm” state “Did the experience work? I don’t know, I don’t think it did anything because I didn’t train more, in fact I probably worked less – added Russell, talking about the difficulties I encountered in free practice yesterday – because I was a bit confused and followed my instincts. I talked about it with Charles. [Leclerc] Previously: Last year and years past, the two of us always thought we could push every lap we took together. But this year, once we’re going faster than our team-mates, the other time we’re going three-tenths or four-tenths slower than our team-mates, and we don’t understand why these cars, these tyres, these power units are so demanding to be interpreted correctly.” Finally, Russell explained the little “chill out” he said in Italian on the radio, which some read as a kind of dig at his team-mate Antonelli: “Obviously the second quarter was very stressful, they were stressed in the garage and I was a bit nervous too. He emphasized and said ‘calm down’ on this issue. I told myself ‘don’t worry, I’ll make it’ and the journey was amazing. Was the Italian word a message to anyone in particular? Oh my God, no, no, I was just kidding, just kidding. I want to make this clear because there was nothing, let’s make this clear because there was absolutely nothing intentional. I spent a lot of time in Italy while karting and on holiday. Honestly, I think the top seven drivers all have a chance in tomorrow’s race. I think it will be a very close fight between Ferrari, McLaren and Max because he was also very fast. I think Ferrari has the fastest car in the corners, while we are the fastest on the straights. “Maybe this will also help us manage tire quality,” he concluded.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-28 02:47:00

Automobile Magazine, 2026-06-28 05:53:00, automobilemagazine.com.tr

Source link