George Russell was happy after qualifying fourth for the Austrian Grand Prix Sprint while Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was much more frustrated by only going sixth fastest.
Ted Kravitz told Sky Sports F1 viewers what Lewis Hamilton was doing to find time after losing out to team-mate George Russell.
It was the younger Briton who had the upper hand during qualifying for the Sprint race at the Austrian Grand Prix. He had a smooth session while, in contrast, Hamilton struggled to find a rhythm after almost losing control of his car at the first corner on his maiden flying lap.
The seven-time F1 champion scraped through to SQ2 and then reached the top 10, but again never looked comfortable behind the wheel of his car. And Sky pit lane reporter Kravitz was keeping a close eye on what the 39-year-old was doing to try to address the situation.
A bit of a gap between Hamilton and Russell,” the Sky F1 reporter said. “I wonder how much that scrappy start to Sprint qualifying has hurt Hamilton? Lewis has been made aware and is looking at that data to see if he can claw some of that time back.”
After the session, Hamilton made it clear he had not enjoyed the session at all. He said: “I wasn’t in the mix at all, our whole session was pretty disastrous from our side.
“What can I say? Practice was good and the car generally felt good, but I don’t think we had the pace to get pole. But, yeah, very bad laps, every single one of them. I don’t think overtaking is mega here, but we’ll do our best. It’s usually not such an eventful race, so I think the focus will be mostly on getting a better qualifying tomorrow.”
“From the start, he had cautioned that overtaking would be difficult during the Sprint race.
Hamilton crossed the finish line in the same position he began, with Russell facing similar circumstances but having to fend off Sainz’s persistent challenge for fourth place.”
Russell may have been a bit let down as he had expected to compete for a top spot on the podium, but he ended up several seconds behind the three cars ahead of him.
Nonetheless, he was pleased with his qualifying performance, which indicates the improvement Mercedes has achieved in the past few weeks. He stated that while most focus is on the main race, it is affirming that they are now competitive, possibly even surpassing Ferrari. Although McLaren may still have a slight lead, it is satisfying to be near the top.
Max Verstappen claimed victory in the Sprint race following an initial challenge from Lando Norris. Norris, who began in second place, ultimately finished third after encountering difficulties trying to overtake Verstappen and falling behind both him and their team-mate Oscar Piastri.
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