George Russell admits being trapped in downward 'spiral' after missed opportunity

George Russell has conceded he got stuck "down the spiral" of the windy conditions at Zandvoort during qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver explained that one subsequent slide over a lap can cause the tyres to overheat, ruining the attempt, something he said happened on both his Q3 efforts.

It left him fifth-fastest, despite third on the grid being more than achievable, with Max Verstappen slightly more than three-tenths quicker.

Despite his disappointment, the four-time grand prix winner called his starting position a "fair result", all things considered.

"Yeah, a little bit disappointed," he told media, including RacingNews365. "But it's a very challenging circuit, with these kinds of conditions.

"If you get the lap together, you can probably find four-tenths, just because it's so windy, one slide, the tyres overheat, and then it's down the spiral.

"And unfortunately, that happened to me both laps in Q3. Could have easily gone the other way, but I didn't feel great out there, so P5 is a fair result."

'Tough' threat facing Russell

The surprise of the session came from Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar, who put in a sublime effort to stick his VCARB 02 between Russell and Verstappen in third.

However, the 27-year-old expects the normal order to resume in the race. However, he did acknowledge the looming difficulties if he cannot quickly dispatch the Frenchman.

"I hope... I expect the normal running order to fall out a little bit, but if I don't manage to get past him [Hadjar] at the start, it will probably be a tough first stint," Russell said.

Choosing to keep his cards close to his chest on potential strategy options, the British driver highlighted that much of the field appears to be leaning toward a one-stop, having kept a fresh set of medium and hard Pirellis, but did not rule out stopping twice.

"Well, a lot of people committed just to one medium, one hard, so that obviously shows what people will be attempting to achieve," he explained.

"The soft doesn't look out of the question as a race tyre. But of course, you wouldn't choose to be running the soft.

"So yeah, the sort of strategy, at least, what people will attempt, was already quite clear before the session."