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Here is the transcript of the post 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Qualifying parc fermé interviews and press conference with George Russell.
PARC FERMÉ INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Davide Valsecchi)
Q: George, congratulations. Third position. You surprised everyone with the brave choice to put the Medium compound just in the last try. How was your car, how was your feeling, why that decision?
George RUSSELL: Yeah, we were going for it. We thought maybe the Medium tyre would be a fast one and it turned out to be a good choice. Of course, a small compromise now for tomorrow, but it was worth it to be back in the top three. Really happy with the performance. Very close to Oscar, which again, is always a surprise when you’re so close to the McLaren because they’re so good at the moment. But it was, yeah, a good afternoon.
Q: And to be honest, everyone was waiting for your lap time. You were the last on the line with that choice. Probably you made the difference in the last sector and that gave you the chance to be up there?
GR: I mean, it was very challenging because opening the lap, we almost missed the flag. I was in first gear starting my lap, I lost a tenth down the straight because I was so close to Sainz. But, you know, nevertheless, really happy with P3. I think we could not have really achieved much more today, but ultimately we need to focus on tomorrow and try and get back on the podium.
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PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: George, great job as well. You did something different at the end of the session. Just how much of you being here now is down to you being on that Medium tyre?
GR: I was P4 on the Soft tyre, only half a tenth behind Lando, and I had a mistake on that lap. Somehow, I accidentally short shifted coming out of Turn 12 and it just bogged down into fifth gear, and I lost about a tenth. So, I felt that I should have been P3 after the first run. And then it was really tight at the end. I almost missed the flag, and I opened my lap in first gear coming around the last corner because of traffic, and I lost a good tenth down into Turn 1. So that Medium tyre was definitely performing well. But I think had I been on the Soft, I probably would have still been P3.
Q: Had you always planned to do that last run on the Medium, or was it just a decision that was made during the session?
GR: No, that was always a plan from before the session. I felt quite strong on that tyre yesterday and today. It was a bit of a risk because nine times out of ten, that will be the start tyre or we will use that tyre at some point in the race. So, in the unlikely event of a puncture or a flat spot, you’re pretty destroyed because then you’d have to use a C6 soft tyre in the race. It didn’t come without any risk, but it was a risk worth taking. We wanted to put it all on the table and I’m pretty happy with P3.
Q: What about the general performance of the car here?
GR: It’s been a bit of a challenging weekend to be honest. I was very surprised how close we were in qualifying. But like Max said, the tyres have been very challenging to get on top of. You look at Sainz in Q2 being the quickest — that came out of nowhere — and I think he then went slower in Q3. When you find that sweet spot, there’s a lot of lap time. And both of my laps in Q3 felt very strong. I found that sweet spot with the tyre and found about four tenths compared to every other lap I did this weekend. So I was pretty happy, but it’ll be challenging for all of us to fight with Oscar tomorrow, and we’ll do our best to hold off Lando.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Filip Cleeren – Motorsport.com) For all three: Can you explain from the cockpit just how much fun you had today on a circuit like this with the gravel and the walls quite close by? And especially with Imola looking set to disappear from F1 for the time being, how much are you going to miss a session like this? Is it important for F1 to keep going to this type of circuit?
GR: For us, it’s definitely the most exciting of all of the season when we come to these types of circuits. I do also appreciate the fans watching — I don’t know if they share the same excitement on a track like this versus a track that isn’t as enjoyable for us to drive. So, you need to find that balance. As we’ve said before, we do love that character, but it is very difficult to race around here in Imola. It’s difficult to race in Zandvoort. And Japan wasn’t straightforward either. The new tracks, although they do miss some character, do usually produce good racing.
Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazine.com) Another one for all three: Yesterday, the C6 looked pretty okay, looked straightforward. Today, it was a completely different matter. Is it just a few degrees of track temperature, lower pressures on the rear, pushing more throughout the lap? What was the reason?
GR: Yeah, like Oscar said, I do feel the concept of going softer to create more variety in the race is the right idea. But we sort of pre-empted this — that there will be many tracks where the C5 is better than the C6. So, then it begs the question: do you want to go back to the alternative tyre allocation where you’ve got to do a Hard, Medium, Soft in qualifying? And then you have more sensible tyres during practice sessions — then we can do more laps, the fans can watch us drive more. I feel that would be a sensible midpoint — sort of mandating the Hard, Medium, Soft for the three sessions. Otherwise, based on today, next time we go to a relatively medium-high speed circuit with a C6, everyone will be qualifying on a C5, and it shouldn’t be like that.
Q: Max, for you — it was your teammate who crashed. What were you thinking immediately afterwards?
Q: George?
GR: Yeah, it was great to see that he’s OK. With a crash like that, it shows how impressive these cars are in a situation like that. But I think for all of us, once the helmet’s on and the visor’s down, you have to get cracking, and you’ve got to take anything like that out of your mind.
Source: FIA.com
