Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hailed George Russell as a champion of the longer term after he delivered a spellbinding lap to assert his first pole place for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Russell, the 24-year-old from Norfolk, tore up the game’s kind ebook – edging out Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by simply 0.044 seconds – to develop into solely the fifth British driver this century to take prime spot in qualifying.
Russell joins compatriots’ David Coulthard, Jenson Button, his present team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.
In the opposite silver automobile, Hamilton may handle solely seventh – his afternoon blighted by a DRS failure – with Russell taking the honour of securing Mercedes’ first pole of a troubled marketing campaign for the grid’s as soon as all-conquering workforce.
“George is a champion in the making,” stated Wolff. “He was a champion in all of the junior categories – in Formula Two and Formula Three as a rookie – and we would never have put him in a Mercedes if he didn’t believe that he could be a future world champion.
“It is his first pole position and that will always be something special for him, and for us, because it is a moment to remember. Today is another milestone of the many he is going to achieve.”
Mercedes seemed to be staring down the barrel of one other poor weekend after they had been left trailing in follow.
But Russell might be in prime spot to take his maiden win in Sunday’s 70-lap race at a observe which has been type to British drivers through the years.
Hamilton has a report eight wins on the Hungaroring whereas Button took his first F1 victory, at his 113th try, right here in 2006. Nigel Mansell wrapped up his sole title triumph on the Hungarian Grand Prix 30 years in the past. Russell himself scored his first factors for former workforce Williams at this race final yr.
“Come on, woohoo, come on, yes, you beauty, you beauty,” he stated over the radio, unable to cover his delight at his landmark achievement.
“Yesterday was probably our toughest Friday of the whole season,” he stated later. “We were all here until 11pm last night scratching our heads.
“Our morale was pretty down and we felt lost, so to come back and to get pole position 24 hours later is such a feeling because I know what we went through last night.
“Today, we just got it perfectly in that window. I went round Turn 1, and I was a tenth and a half up. I went round Turn 2 and I was three tenths up. And when you are on one of those laps, in the groove and in the rhythm, it just keeps on coming. We nailed it.
“This is what racing is all about. This is why I wake up every single day. I want to be world champion because a feeling like this is something you can’t really dream of.”
“There are no points for qualifying but getting this result for all of us is pretty huge. We are behind the curve at the moment but we will be absolutely going for it and victory is what we are fighting for.”
Russell could have the Ferrari duo of Sainz and Charles Leclerc, who begins third, snapping at his heels. Lando Norris certified fourth for McLaren, whereas Max Verstappen, who heads Leclerc by 63 factors heading into the ultimate spherical earlier than the summer time break, will begin tenth after he misplaced energy in qualifying.
“I am hopefully not planning to defend and that we will drive off into the sunset,” stated Russell with a wry smile. “But I know the guys around me and even Max will not make it easy.
“Budapest is a circuit I have always loved. I have always been fast here and I knew if the car and myself were working perfectly together there was no reason why we couldn’t achieve great things.
“I will get a good night’s sleep and focus everything for tomorrow.”
Source: www.impartial.co.uk