George Russell will start only 18th for the Hungarian Grand Prix after falling out of qualifying at the first hurdle. The Mercedes driver was faster than only Haas' Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant's Williams with a 1:19.027, just 0.121secs away from a place in Q2. F1 and Pirelli have introduced an 'Alternative Tyre Allocation' trial this weekend, with drivers forced to use Hard tyres in Q1, Mediums in Q2 and Softs in Q3. It seems Mercedes left it too late to get Russell on track in the best track conditions at the end of the opening segment, with the Briton unable to complete a clean out-lap as the traffic stacked up in the final sector. "Don't tell me we are out," said Russell over team radio. "Guys, we could have gone at any point. We were in all that traffic." The result marks a stark change from Russell's 2022 exploits at the Hungaroring, where he achieved his first pole position in F1. He was joined in elimination by Alex Albon, Yuki Tsunoda, Magnussen and Sargeant.
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