George Russell “over-egged it” as he’s “surprised” by 0.3s gap to Max Verstappen

George Russell was left surprised by the 0.3s deficit to Max Verstappen in sprint qualifying for the F1 Austrian Grand Prix.

Russell qualified fourth but was nearly three-tenths behind Verstappen in the fight for pole position.

Mercedes had shown great pace throughout practice and the early stages of qualifying but their challenge for pole fizzled out.

Still, it continues Mercedes' recent resurgence in form as they looked to have the edge over Ferrari once again.

Reflecting on qualifying at the Red Bull Ring, Russell said: “The soft felt really good, to be honest. My lap felt really strong. I’m surprised at the gap.”

Explaining the deficit to Verstappen, Russell blamed his out-lap and how he prepared the tyres for his final SQ3 effort.

“I over-egged it on my out-lap,” he added. “It took too much life out of my tyres on the out-lap.

“It took the peak grip away from it. That’s the only explanation that I’ve got, at the moment.

“The lap felt strong, the best lap of the session. It was a step backwards. P4 is still a great place to be for tomorrow.”

Russell is eyeing a podium finish in the Saturday sprint race, noting that Mercedes are “probably” ahead of Ferrari now in the pecking order.

Assessing his chances in the sprint tomorrow, Russell added: “Definitely, fight for podium in the sprint.

“Eyes on the main race is the most important. It’s validation, again, that we’re in the mix now. Probably a bit ahead of Ferrari at the moment. McLaren still seem to be a small smidge ahead. It’s nice to be at the front end more consistently.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff conceded he thought his drivers would be in the fight for pole.

“The weekend has gone well. FP1 was a good session for us. [Sprint] qualifying, not so,” Wolff added. “It’s clear, the expectations are different now.

“We thought that we could play for pole. Verstappen was just much too quick.

The McLarens, as they have done in the past, were able to put a strong lap in.”

Wolff feels that Mercedes will be able to take what they learn into the sprint into conventional qualifying and perhaps reduce the deficit to Verstappen at the front.

“The sprint is difficult to judge. The pecking order from qualifying is probably what it also is for the race,” he explained.

“I think we are continuously developing our learning. Qualifying is a different game. Maybe we can be closer to Verstappen tomorrow. A front row would be a great result. Everything is to play [for].”