P11 'so satisfying' says Russell as Williams impress in Styria qualifying on hunt for first points

George Russell reminded us all once again why he’s earned the nickname 'Mr Saturday' as he took an impressive P11 in Styrian GP qualifying, missing out on a Q3 appearance by just 0.008s…

The Briton cruised into Q2 with relative ease, with team mate Nicholas Latifi missing out by just under a tenth to highlight the improved performance of the Williams at the Red Bull Ring.

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As the track ramped up, and the lap times dropped, Russell was able to find more speed and though he was pipped to Q3 by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, he still outqualified a Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin and Alpine.

And now he’s setting his sights on a first points finish for Williams.

“So close yet so far,” said Russell, who qualified 11th in the wet in Austria last year. “Obviously the team did a really good job, the car’s feeling good. I think we’ve learned a lot about the car recently.

“We’ve been going in a slightly different direction, put in more emphasis for our Sunday. Let’s see how it pans out tomorrow. It felt very good on the high fuel yesterday.

“I’m looking forward to get inside of that top 10; I’m not looking behind me in my mirrors. I just want to go forward now – let’s see if we can do that.”

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Russell said there’s a really positive vibe at Williams right now, with the British team seemingly making progress race in, race out.

“I think all of us we’re feeling confident, we can go out there and deliver the maximum which is so satisfying even though it’s only P11, knowing that we’ve donethe best job possible,” he added.

“We’ve outqualified McLarens, Ferraris, Aston Martins, you know, is massive – and alpine as well. It’s massive for us. So you know really pleased with how everything is going and it is satisfying when it’s like this.”

With such a short lap at the Red Bull Ring, the field usually remains much tighter, providing Williams with arguably their best chance yet to score point this season and give themselves an edge on Haas in the fight for P9 in the constructors’ championship.