Russell confused by crash and pace drop in Austin qualifying

George Russell admitted that he had no clear explanation for the heavy crash he had suffered in the final minutes of qualifying at the US Grand Prix on Saturday.

The Mercedes driver was on his final hot lap in Q3, seeking to improve his position in the pecking order, when he suddenly lost control as he entered COTA’s Turn 19 and veered off into the outside barrier.

While he admitted to pushing the limits, Russell couldn't pinpoint the exact reason for which the back end of his W15 had suddenly broken loose.

“It was a really great lap until turn 12,” the Briton told Sky F1 after the session. “I was four and a half tenths up, then lost it a bit at turn 12, similar to Lewis yesterday, then lost loads of lap time.

“I was still probably a tenth or so quicker than my previous lap and then I went into the penultimate corner, turned in and then the thing just went on me and caught me by surprise.

“Maybe I was over-pushing, but just pretty disappointed with the damage caused to the car and all the work that’s going to have to go on tonight.”

• Read also: Hamilton blasts ‘mess’ of a car after shock Q1 exit at US GP

Russell’s crash not only caused significant damage to his car, but it also compounded a weekend of confusion for Mercedes.

After being just a fraction away from securing pole position for the sprint race the previous day, Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton found themselves struggling for pace during the main qualifying session, with Hamilton even suffering a shock exit as early as Q1.

“I’m a little bit confused why yesterday Lewis and I were both in the fight for pole and today we were nowhere,” he admitted.

“The car didn’t feel as put together, but the pace was coming easily yesterday. Today it just was not.”

Mercedes introduced a series of upgrades to its car for the Austin race, but the inconsistency in performance remains a frustrating challenge for Russell and the team.

“We don't have the answers because we keep finding ourselves in this position,” he said.

“It is how the car is interacting with the tyres. The temperature, small changes; the wind, small changes. But it has been the story of the season, old upgrades, new upgrades. Either we're there or we're half a second, six tenths off.

“It just seems like such a theme at the moment that when we find the sweet spot, we’ve got a car that’s capable of pole positions and race wins, when we can’t find that sweet spot we’re nowhere.”

“So I mean, apologies for the team, there’s been so much hard work bringing these upgrades and it’s really disappointing my side for the outcome.”

Despite the crash, Russell managed to qualify in sixth place. However, the damage to his car raised concerns about whether he might need to start the race from the pit lane.

“It shouldn’t,” Russell said when asked about the possibility. “But there’s a lot of damage, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. But it’s obviously not the day we needed.”

One scenario that was put forward in the Mercedes camp, by Hamilton himself, would see the latter give up his upgrades for Russell to overcome the team’s shortage of updated parts, a move authorized by the regulations but which would force a pitlane start on the seven-time world champion.

However, downgrading Russell’s W15 would inevitably impact the car’s performance.

“Right now, the concern is about the bits,” said Russell. “We will have to revert on the upgrades.

“Lewis has kindly offered his ones, but we're not going to swap. So I don't know what's going to be happening now, but that's the biggest concern.”

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