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Here is the transcript of the post 2025 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying parc fermé interviews and press conference with George Russell.
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Jolyon Palmer)
Q: George, what a performance, on the front row in 2025. How was that for you?
George RUSSELL: It feels incredible, to be honest. It was one of the hardest quali sessions I’ve done in a long, long time and I was trying all sorts with my preparation, with the tyres, and nothing seemed to be clicking. Did something totally different on that last lap and it just all came alive and the lap was awesome. Just yeah, so, so happy to be P2.
Q: P2. What was the difference? What did you do different?
GR: Oh, I mean I was going fast on the out lap, slow on the out lap, prepping the out lap… it was just—and the last one was a bit of a roll of the dice. Had a big moment at Turn 1, but it just all came together and I was really surprised when I crossed the line. I knew it was a good lap, but to see that I was between the McLarens—yeah, just buzzing and looking forward to tomorrow.
Q: And in terms of race pace, we saw earlier on you were honing in on the top three. Didn’t quite get there, but degradation looks really tough out there. How are you feeling over the full distance?
GR: Yeah, it’s going to be tough. I think the Medium tyre in the Sprint was really difficult. Obviously, I think most drivers will start on that at the front of the field tomorrow, and then the Hard—no one’s ran all weekend. So nobody knows right now if it’s going to be a one or a two stop. We know that McLaren are going to be quick, but we’ll be doing everything to try and stay where we are or try and jump ahead of them. Should be a lot of fun.
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PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Well done today. Best of luck tomorrow. George, let’s come to you now. You ran Oscar very close. You also said it was one of the hardest sessions of your Formula 1 career. So talk us through it. How good was the car?
GR: It was really, really challenging because the weekend has been difficult for everybody to get on top of these tyres and knowing what the best sort of strategy in the session is—if you go hard on your formation lap or do you take it easy? And I was just sort of going all over the place. And on the last lap, I tried something very different, it worked, really strong lap, and the P2 was a real surprise. So really pleased with that one.
Q: What did you try differently on the last lap?
GR: I just came out the pits and went dead slow round that warm-up lap ahead of my fast lap. So the first lap in Q3 I was full gas on that lap and it seemed OK—I think I was in P5, but two-and-a-half, three-tenths behind Oscar. And then found four-tenths on my last lap. Just really came together and it feels really rewarding when you do your best lap of the weekend when it matters. And to be in the front row is a really great place to start for tomorrow.
Q: Great place to start. Just how much confidence did you have coming into the session that a result like this might have been possible?
GR: I think we’ve known realistically anywhere from P3 to P7 is where we are on a given day. And you saw, I think it was only two-tenths to P6 between ourselves, Ferrari, Kimi and Max. And just to be between the McLarens, I’m really proud of the job we’ve all done to secure that. We know how quick they are. So anything more than a P3 is a big result for any team at the moment.
Q: And from everything we’ve learned so far this weekend, do you think you’ve got the race pace to match these guys?
GR: I think that would be a bit of a stretch. Like Oscar said, it was a really difficult race this morning. I do think they’re still a step ahead of everybody. Ferrari were a real surprise in the Sprint, but tomorrow’s a different game. And we’ve got the Hard tyre—nobody’s run that yet. So I expect a slightly different outcome.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) Question for all three of you, please. The track surface is completely different to how it was here in 2024. It’s very sunny where it was rainy and cloudy last year. Just how different has it been for all three of you to drive this course this time around?
GR: Yeah, like Oscar said, new surface—it’s super quick. Like here and like Jeddah, that’s like the gold standard of resurfacing that the drivers want because it’s so enjoyable to drive and it’s so quick. It’s great for people watching. We clearly made a pretty good race this morning with the tyres and I think it’ll be a good race tomorrow. So all in all, yeah, good news.
Q: George, is it smoother than last year, the bumps gone?
GR: Yeah, I mean the track’s like a bowling alley at the moment—super smooth. Whereas last year it was all quite open and the tyres were degrading quite a lot. So that’s always quite nice when you come here for the first year. Obviously, like in Turkey a few years ago, it didn’t go quite as well—I remember that was really nice and smooth. But yeah, much better than last year.
Q: (Yiyi Duan – Titan Sports) Question to Oscar. You once joked that you have 1/16th heritage from China—so it’s sort of your home court. You got a good performance today and good results. Do you see that this good momentum will quickly build up, perhaps boost confidence, especially after Melbourne?
Oscar PIASTRI: The 1/16th heritage wasn’t a joke—that’s real.
GR: What? Wow.
OP: They’re all here for me. They’re not here for Lewis—they’re for me. Yeah, I mean it’s many generations ago and I definitely can’t speak Chinese and I’m not going to embarrass myself. But yeah, I think I’ve definitely enjoyed coming here a lot more this year. I’ve been able to see a little bit more of Shanghai. The weather’s been much nicer than it was last year. Everything is just going a bit better this weekend than it was 12 months ago. And yeah, the pole position is a really good confidence boost—it’s obviously my first one. So it’s always nice to tick that box in a sense. But I think it’s been a good start to the whole year for both the team and myself, even if the points tally doesn’t look like that at the moment. So no, happy with how things are going, and this is a nice step along the way.
Source: FIA.com
