‘This season’s just not meant to be’ – Russell rues ‘misjudgement’ that cost him Sao Paulo pole

A bittersweet Qualifying in Sao Paulo left George Russell feeling frustrated after a “misjudgement” cut his lap that “would’ve been good enough for pole” short, but his performance still gave him “confidence” for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Nearly a week after he lost out on the Drivers’ Championship to his team mate Kimi Antonelli, Russell bounced back to fight for the top spot in Qualifying at Interlagos – a challenge that was made particularly difficult by torrential rain.

Despite the conditions, he mingled around the P1 slot on the timesheets before the weather worsened after the first Q3 runs. Assuming they’d get the chance to complete another lap, Mercedes told Russell to back off with Alex Albon just ahead, which proved to be the wrong call as his effort to that point was faster than polesitter Lando Norris’.

Elaborating on his subsequent flurry of irritated radio messages, he said: “Pole was ours for the taking there. It was just a misjudgement from us collectively as a team to abort my second lap.

“We thought we’d get another 60s without the rain – unfortunately, we got that wrong. That was a pole lap, I think. I got a bit held up by Albon, but it still would’ve been good enough for the pole.

“[The race is] going to be tricky, but it gives me confidence. It reminds me again that I’ve not forgotten how to drive, and I think that’s important in circumstances like these that I found myself in.

“It would’ve meant a lot to me to have clinched the pole with a great performance, like we showed in Qualifying. I think it kind of sums up this season.

“As a team, we’ve got one goal this weekend and that’s to seal the Constructors’. This season’s just very much not meant to be.”

Although Russell’s five-place grid penalty will demote him to P7, Mercedes will still be on course to score the three extra points they need to beat Ferrari to the Teams’ Championship, especially with Antonelli starting on the front row.

The Italian didn’t look as confident as Russell throughout Qualifying and wound up 0.625s adrift of Norris’ time, but moving up to P2 on the grid will put him in a strong position to add a 10th Grand Prix win to his tally.

“[It was] very difficult trying to understand this track in the wet,” Antonelli admitted. “It was [my] first time around here in the wet, and it just was not easy.

“Very slippery but I think in Q3 there was a lot more. I just made two big mistakes during the lap and that cost us the chance for a better position.

“I’m looking forward to [the race] if it’s wet. Obviously I have a lot more experience now with the car, so if it’s wet it’s going to be fun, but if it’s dry we’re going to do our best. I think overall there’s been big learning this session. Not how I wanted it to go, but still decent.”