Russell survived ‘big moment’ before shock front row result

George Russell has stated he survived a “big moment” en route to to taking a surprise front row start for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Russell narrowly missed out on the fastest lap in the session as Oscar Piastri claimed his first-ever F1 pole position.

Mercedes was not considered to be a primary contender during qualifying as it lacked pace to its rivals during sprint qualifying on Friday, with Russell ending that outing in fifth.

However, the Briton fired his car to the front row for Sunday's race despite running into several difficulties along the way.

“It feels incredible, to be honest,” Russell said. “It was one of the hardest qualifying sessions I've done in a long, long time.

“I was trying all sorts with my preparation and with the tyres - nothing seemed to be clicking. I did something totally different on that last lap and it just all came alive. That was awesome.

“I was going fast on the out lap, slow on the out lap, prepping in the out-lap.

“The last one was a bit of a roll of the dice, and I had a big moment at Turn 1 but it just all came together.

“I was really surprised when I crossed the line. I knew it was a good lap, but to see that I was between the McLarens, I was buzzing. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

With tyre degradation being a major factor in the sprint race, Russell is expecting the situation to become relevant once again in the grand prix.

“It's going to be tough,” he said. “I think the medium tyre in the sprint was really difficult. Obviously. I think most drivers will start on that at the front of the field tomorrow. 

“The hard, no one has run it all weekend, so nobody knows right now if it's going to be a one or a two-stop.

“We know the McLarens are going to be quick but I'll be doing everything I can to try and stay where we are or try and jump ahead of them.”