Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton are set to share the fourth row of the grid for the Miami Grand Prix after taking P7 and P8 in qualifying – with the team’s performance picture mixed after a trying weekend so far.
Sprint Qualifying 24 hours before qualifying for the Grand Prix had seen both Mercedes exit in the second segment, with Russell and Hamilton then classified P12 and P16 in Saturday’s Sprint – Hamilton enjoying a frantic battle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen before a penalty dropped him to his eventual finishing position.
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With Mercedes able to alter the car ahead of qualifying – the team having brought a small upgrade package to the W15 this weekend – there were then flashes of pace on show, most notably Hamilton finishing Q2 in P3.
But ultimately, the team found themselves over eight-tenths off the pace of the frontrunners in Q3, Russell pipping Hamilton to P7, the two Mercedes ahead only of Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in the top 10.
“Of course we all have higher standards than that and hope and expect more but we have to accept this is where we are as a team right now,” said Russell. “I think we know where the problems are in the car and we need to make some big changes to rectify that. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen overnight.
News Summary:
- Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton expecting ‘a step forward’ in Miami Grand Prix after flashes of ‘mega’ pace in qualifying
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