Russell says Turn 12 slide derailed his Austin Q3

George Russell qualified sixth for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, though he believed a top-three result had been within reach. He did not think he could have fought for pole.

The Mercedes driver said he felt good in Sector 1 but struggled at low speed. “Just one slide around Turn 12, and then it was just a snowball.” Russell said he lost it all in Sector 3 and described his two Q3 laps as poor.

His first Q3 attempt remained his best after he failed to improve on his second run, leaving him 0.441 seconds behind pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli, his Mercedes team-mate. Wind made the session tricky for everyone. Russell said cloud cover and a rise of a couple of degrees in track temperature made a major difference to the tyres’ operating window in Sector 3. He did not think anyone improved on the final lap; his own first attempt, he said, had not been good enough.