How Russell stole the show and nearly pole on used inters
Max Verstappen may have denied George Russell a maiden Formula 1 pole, but it was the Williams driver who stole the show with an astonishing display in a dramatic Belgian Grand Prix qualifying.
Russell excelled in treacherous wet weather conditions to haul his uncompetitive Williams into the final part of qualifying, and then so nearly take what would have gone down as one of the greatest pole laps in F1 history.
The British driver’s outstanding sole Q3 effort saw him briefly hold provisional pole position, having outpaced Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes by 0.013s, before Verstappen usurped him by just three tenths right at the end.
"I was in the fortunate position that I had nothing to lose,” said a delighted Russell in parc ferme directly after qualifying had concluded.
"We just had to go for it. We saved the full maximum engine mode for the last lap, but I’m buzzing, absolutely buzzing.”
It came after a lengthy delay to qualifying after Lando Norris suffered a scary high-speed shunt on his first flying lap of Q3.
As the rain fell heavier at the start of the top-10 shootout, the McLaren driver lost control on the run up Eau Rouge and speared into the barriers. The violent impact destroyed his car and resulted in immediate red flag.
It was a dramatic Saturday at Spa, in our first qualifying session after the 2021 summer break
Watch highlights here - including this incident that Lando thankfully walked away from, and a battle for pole that was decided by 0.013s taken a decision on who will partner Hamilton in 2022, though it will remain a closely-guarded secret for the time being.
“At La Source, he just gained so much time to everybody else because he’s the only one who is on the apex,” Wolff said of Russell’s lap.
“That’s definitely a fact of driving and also a fact of having the right setup and the tyre temperatures and the window.
“The way Williams has approached qualifying was very clever. But it needs a driver to exploit the full potential of the package, or overperform the package.
“All that came together today and we still saw a brilliant lap from a brilliant young driver.”
George Russell (GBR) Williams Racing celebrates his second position in…
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