George Russell stunned the Formula 1 grid after landing his Mercedes car on the front row for the Chinese Grand Prix after a ‘challenging’ qualifying session.
After a one-two in Melbourne, McLaren looked all set for a papaya front row in China with Oscar Piastri coming out on top against his team-mate Lando Norris.
However, up stepped the German outfit’s lead driver as Russell delivered the magic to qualify in second place for the Grand Prix.
Following on from his podium in the season opener, the British driver qualified fifth for the Sprint, holding off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for a fourth-place place in the end.
Heading into qualifying, with drivers struggling to get the preparation lap right, Russell initially set a lap time good enough for the third row before his superb final run.
The 27-year-old revealed to the media afterwards what he did differently on his final attempt to deliver the goods for Mercedes.
“I just came out the pits and went dead slow round that warm-up lap ahead of my fast lap,” Russell explained.
“So the first lap in Q3 I was full gas on that lap and it seemed okay – I think I was in P5, but two-and-a-half, three-tenths behind Oscar, and then found four-tenths on my last lap.
“[It] just came together and it feels really rewarding when you do your best lap of the weekend when it matters.
“To be in the front row is a really great place to start for tomorrow.”
“It was really, really challenging because the weekend has been difficult for everybody to get on top of these tyres and knowing what the best sort of strategy in the session is – if you go hard on your formation lap or do you take it easy?
“I was just sort of going all over the place.”
Russell: McLaren is ‘still a step ahead of everybody’
The Silver Arrows have made a steady start to 2025, collecting a decent haul of points in Melbourne amidst the chaos of the wet-weather conditions.
But not many would expect a first front-row start for the British driver at the Shanghai International Circuit.
When asked if he expected to qualify as high as second for the Chinese GP, Russell explained that it would be an upset for any team to split the McLaren drivers lately.
“I think we’ve known realistically anywhere from P3 to P7 is where we are on a given day,” he replied.
“I think it was only two-tenths to P6 between ourselves, Ferrari, Kimi [Antonelli] and Max [Verstappen], and just to be between the McLarens, I’m really proud of the job we’ve all done to secure that.
“We know how quick they are, so anything more than a P3 is a big result for any team at the moment.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, however, he did not expect to have the car to challenge the Woking-based squad.
“I think that would be a bit of a stretch,” the Briton added.
“Like Oscar said, it was a really difficult race this morning.
“I do think they’re still a step ahead of everybody.
“Ferrari were a real surprise in the Sprint, but tomorrow’s a different game.
“We’ve got the hard tyre – nobody’s run that yet – so I expect a slightly different outcome.”
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