George Russell says Mercedes’ older-spec car is “not bad” after P2 in Singapore Sprint Qualifying

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

George Russell finished second in Sprint Qualifying at the Singapore Grand Prix, putting himself on the grid behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and reinforcing Mercedes’ confidence in their weekend options after earlier uncertainty around their upgrade direction in Malaysia. Russell said the team looked competitive from the start of the weekend, noting that Mercedes topped the timesheets in FP1.

Russell’s run to P2 came after he reverted to an older-specification car for Marina Bay. According to Mercedes’ split approach this weekend, Russell drove the package he used to pole position and victory in Baku, while Antonelli remained with the newer parts. Russell described the outcome as encouraging, adding that Verstappen’s pace and on-track decisions—including a different strategy in Q3—were difficult to match precisely on the basis of the information available during the session.

Asked how Sprint Qualifying unfolded, Russell said: “I think we’ve seemed competitive all day, to be honest, from the first laps in FP1 – we obviously topped the timesheets there.” He also commented on the apparent differences in how the field set up their final runs, saying Verstappen went with “one lap” in Q3 and that Mercedes could not definitively determine what was best, but that he was satisfied with second place on the grid for the Sprint.

Russell also addressed Mercedes’ split-car engineering plan directly. He said: “Well, I can definitely confirm the old one is not bad!” Looking ahead to Sunday, Russell suggested that additional clarity would come from performance comparisons with Antonelli on the upgrades, while acknowledging that the stopwatch has not yet shown improvement for the new parts: “it’s a sport driven by the stopwatch, and the stopwatch has not been great for the upgrade yet.”

For Sunday’s Grand Prix, Russell will take an engine-related grid drop. Before considering how that might affect his chances of challenging Verstappen, he previewed the Sprint and the start as a key opportunity to gain track position. Russell warned that overtaking will be difficult given Singapore’s grip characteristics and the historical advantage of the pole side, adding that maintaining second could be a realistic aim.

Russell also referenced the ongoing investigation involving Verstappen. He said: “I know Max is under investigation for the yellows, so let’s see,” after Verstappen was linked to an alleged overtake of Lewis Hamilton under yellow flags in SQ1.