Russian GP: Williams Racing Qualifying Review

Qualifying Notes:
• George Russell qualified third and Nicholas Latifi 14th for the Russian Grand Prix.
• George continued to improve throughout Q3, setting his initial laps on intermediate tyres before boxing for the soft Pirelli compound to post a fastest time of 1:42.983.
• Nicholas set his fastest time on his final flying lap of Q1, setting a 1:48.252 on intermediate tyres to progress to Q2. However, the Canadian will start at the back of the grid due to a Power Unit change.

Nicholas Latifi:
"The pace felt very strong today. You never know how well you’ll be able to switch on the tyres in the wet weather, but when I first hit the brakes I could tell the grip was there and it felt good, which clearly wasn’t the case for everyone. Even on a track that was constantly improving, the lap I set in the middle of Q1 was enough to get me through to Q2. Seeing what was possible in Q1 makes it more frustrating to be starting from the back of the grid due to the Power Unit change, but that’s racing sometimes. I’ll be pushing hard tomorrow to make up as many positions as I can in the race."

George Russell:
" P3 is an incredible result and the team did an amazing job once again. We’re riding a wave at the moment and it feels pretty great! It’s high risk and high reward in situations like these but I knew it would be slicks for the end of the session. I managed to get the tyres in a good window and was building up to the limit to give it everything I had on the last lap.

Many people have said in the past that third is the best place to start in Sochi. I won’t be doing anything crazy but if there’s an opportunity there tomorrow I’ll go for it. It’s going to be a very tricky race but I’ll be defending hard and picking my battles. We’ve got to look forward but also be realistic as we’ve got some very fast cars behind us. It’s not going to be easy but I will be doing my best."

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
"We have obviously sustained some damage to both cars following Q2 and we need to assess that tonight. George’s car doesn’t look too bad, but the damage on Nicholas’s is more extensive. It is unfortunate that neither car was able to set a representative laptime in Q2 as we were building up good momentum, which started in FP3. The car was better today than it had been yesterday, and we chose run plans in qualifying that allowed the drivers to maximise the tyre preparation. Unfortunately, George made a very rare mistake near the end of a lap that was looking good enough for Q3. Nicholas too was performing very well, had an excellent Q1 and was pushing George very hard until he just lost the car when passing the Mercedes, which was on an out-lap.

We have a bit of work to do tonight but should still start the race in a strong position. Given how tricky this circuit is and how penalising the smallest of mistakes can be, we are looking forward to a good race and will be looking for both drivers to make progress."

Track: Sochi Autodrom, Russia
Lap Length: 5.848 km / 3.633 miles

Weather: Wet conditions
Temperature: Air: 13-14°C Track: 15-16°C

POS

DRIVER

TEAM

Q1

Q2