George Russell makes stewards prediction ahead of investigation

George Russell does not believe he will receive any sanction in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying as he faces a stewards' investigation.

The Mercedes driver qualified fifth but was summoned to the stewards for an unsafe release in the pit lane during Q3 as he barged into line in front of the two Ferrari drivers.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton went past before Russell joined the fast lane, but he was summoned for an alleged breach of the race director's event notes in not joining the fast lane in the correct manner.

However, the Briton is confident that no sporting sanction will be applied.

"I mean, I went and then saw a few drivers pulling out," Russell told media including RacingNews365. 

"But then you have a massive blind spot, you don't have a window you can look through and you can only move your head so much.

"It is a massive blind spot, so I've got to go to the stewards, but I don't expect any issues, it is just part of it."

As for his qualifying itself, Russell felt the factors which had made Mercedes dominate in Canada worked against it in Austria.

"It was the maximum we could have got," he explained.

"The gap to everyone except Lando is quite understandable, but the gap to Lando was bigger than we thought. But we know our strengths and weaknesses, and this was never going to be a strong race for us. 

"It is just a combination of everything. The track is hot, the tarmac is pretty abrasive, high-speed corners and it sort of all goes against us in the same way as everything in Canada went for us.

"We know where we need to improve, so it is no major surprise, but it is a tough one to swallow."

UPDATE: In their verdict, the stewards declined to take any action against Russell.