Sainz wary of Russell threat after storming to Singapore pole

Carlos Sainz is wary of the threat George Russell will pose in the Singapore Grand Prix from second on the grid thanks to a strategic advantage for Mercedes.

Sainz roared to pole in Singapore on a night Red Bull melted down, pipping Russell by less than a tenth of a second to secure his second straight P1 start after the Italian Grand Prix last time out.

Team-mate Charles Leclerc was third as Sainz out-qualified him for the third time in a row, and brought to an end Leclerc's record of not being out-qualified by a team-mate at Marina Bay.

Russell has saved an extra set of the Medium tyre for the race - which is the ideal race tyre, meaning the Mercedes driver could have an advantage over Sainz, who recognised the threat.

Sainz on Russell threat

"There is a question mark as it is not like you can learn a lot on Friday, and Mercedes is usually quicker than us in the race," Sainz said.

"They have a bit of a different strategy with the tyres that we have to keep an eye on, but if I focus on my own race, put together a good first stint and on the Hards, we can still target the win.

"It's been the story of the year that we have a very good car at certain tracks and in certain conditions like one lap and short apexes, quick changes of direction seems to be very good.

"We know that our weakness is in race pace, we always pay the price, but the team has been doing a great job over the last couple of weekends to understand the package and the car.

"We are definitely making progress."