© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
George Russell says he is feeling “very bruised and sore” after the Sakhir Grand Prix qualifying and predicts a “fatiguing race”.
The reason for this mostly has to do with the Briton’s size. As one of the tallest drivers, he doesn’t quite fit into Lewis Hamilton’s car.
“I’m very bruised and sore and it’s going to be quite a fatiguing race if you’re not comfortable in the car,” said Russell.
“I had ice on my shoulders last night to reduce some swelling and what have you, and knees [and] toes.”
However, the young Briton is feeling “very relaxed, to be honest”.
“When I was waiting for confirmation if I’d got this drive, it was incredibly anxious but as soon as I got the confirmation, I just saw it as a great opportunity, so I was pretty chilled.
“Everyone at Mercedes – Toto [Wolff] and James [Allison] – they just said: ‘Go out and enjoy it – there’s zero expectation from you.
“If Lewis were to jump in a Williams, let’s say, it would be difficult, so we’re not expecting anything from you, and if you qualify first two rows, top five, top six – fine. You can still get a podium from there’.
“So [I’m feeling] very relaxed. But obviously I always want to do well, I always want to be happy with my own performance and then comfort-wise it’s still not perfect.”
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Nobody can say a bad word about Russell’s performance in qualifying as he qualified just 0.026s behind Valtteri Bottas, after stepping into the W11 for the first time on Friday. His main struggle has been related to the speed at the exit of Turn 1.
“The main thing, I was just struggling with a lot of understeer at the apex, which meant when I picked up the power, I was just getting a snap of oversteer.
“The driving style I was doing in the Williams last week [in the Bahrain GP], where I was strong last week in the Williams, was not working, and it was very different to Valtteri, very different to what Lewis was doing.
“I think the Mercedes just has so much more grip and so much more front end on the entry phase that could allow me to carry a bit more speed, but it was difficult.
“It’s just a very different way to drive the car,” concluded the young Briton.
