Russell points to crucial moment that unlocked Mercedes 'surprise'

George Russell believes the final sector of his United States Grand Prix sprint qualifying lap helped to "surprise" Mercedes.

Russell took second place on the grid for the shorter Austin race, having set the provisional pole time early on in SQ3, some 0.5s up on team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

He out-qualified both Ferraris and the McLaren of title challenger Lando Norris, but was ultimately pipped to P1 by Max Verstappen by just 0.012s, although it is still Russell's first front-row in any format since pole at the British Grand Prix in July.

Hamilton qualified in sixth place. 

Mercedes is running a big upgrade package in Texas, and despite a poor free practice that included a spin exiting Turn 1, Russell felt the result was a just reward.

"To be honest, I'm really happy because it's been a while since we've been on the front row," Russell explained.

"It was a pretty tricky session, but I really pulled the lap together in the end and my last sector was really strong, and that is what made the difference.

"The car was definitely a handful this morning, but we managed to get on top of it, I knew we had this potential in the car because we didn't make the most of our quick laps [in practice].

"But the car has been feeling great with these upgrades, it is clearly close, but we definitely surprised ourselves. 

"I don't see why we can't challenge for the [sprint] win, if we managed to qualify in second place, a couple of tenths ahead of everyone else, it is feeling good.

"I'm just excited to be back in this position, it has been a little while, and this is sort of what excites me about Formula 1 - fighting for poles, and hopefully for wins.

"It was a real shame for Lewis as he was on a strong lap as well, but he got caught out by the yellow flag, so we both should have been up there, but it is great to be back in the mix again."