George Russell details Spa deficit after 'overestimated' error

George Russell stated he "overestimated" the grip levels during FP1 at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday, leaving the Briton fighting an uphill battle from the outset at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Russell has arrived in Belgium looking to continue to eat into the 25-point championship lead held by team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

But the Italian appeared to be the stronger of the two on Friday, with Antonelli topping FP2 while Russell could only manage eighth.

Russell felt he was left on the back foot after going in the wrong direction with his FP1 setup.

"We haven't had the smoothest Friday here in Spa," Russell said.

"We overestimated the grip levels in FP1 and that meant our starting set-up wasn't in the right place. 

“We struggled with a difficult car balance and, whilst we were able to complete some learning, it wasn't the ideal way to start our weekend."

Russell, a two-time winner this season after victories in Australia and Austria, has acknowledged that he can't afford to let weekends slip away if he is to mount a sustained title challenge against Antonelli across the second half of the campaign.

Despite the concerns over one-lap pace, however, Russell expressed confidence in his long-run performance at Spa.

"We therefore worked hard ahead of FP2 and made some changes which improved things," he added.

"There is still more lap time we can find, particularly on the single lap, and we will look to do that overnight. Our long run was more competitive and that gives us encouragement heading into Saturday and Sunday."