Autobayng News Team
George Russell looked on course to claim pole position for the second year in a row in Las Vegas after topping final practice, Q1 and Q2.
But he revealed a problem developed on his car in the final stage of qualifying, leaving him fourth on the grid.
“I actually had some sort of steering issue,” Russell told the official F1 channel. “The last three laps it was like I lost power steering.”
“I was really struggling to turn around the corners,” he said. “I don’t know what the issue was but it just didn’t come together in Q3 when Q1 and Q2 had been pretty solid.”
Russell was initially unsure what the problem might be and told his team to check his suspension. He said he did not have any contact with a barrier which might have caused the problem.
Despite the setback, Russell does not believe he would have taken pole position. He was quickest in the first two stages where every driver who progressed did so on full wet weather tyres, but felt less competitive on intermediates at the end of the session.
“I don’t think we’d have been on pole ’cause I didn’t have a great feeling with the car,” he said, “but it was kind of quite annoying.”
The team’s engineering director Andrew Shovlin said trying to manage the power steering problem had a negative effect on Russell’s tyre management.
“We had an issue with his power steering halfway through the session where it was providing inconsistent levels of assistance,” Shovlin explained. “Fearing that the car wouldn’t make it to the finish, George continued to push on the penultimate lap, which meant the tyres were too hot starting his final attempt.”
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Russell’s radio messages from the final laps of Q3
Russell discussed the developing problem with race engineer Marcus Dudley and team principal Toto Wolff over the final laps of qualifying:
| Russell | Approaching turn five Check suspension. |
| Dudley | Looks okay at the moment. |
| Russell | Got a problem on the front. Steering. |
| Dudley | We don’t see anything in the data, George. |
| Russell | There’s something not right. Check hydraulics. Just keep an eye, it’s something there. |
| Dudley | Affirm. So there’ll be one more lap remaining. We’ll have strat two out of the final corner. Russell begins final lap |
| Russell | Russell finishes his final lap I don’t know what’s happened to the steering, something’s broke on the front. |
| Dudley | Understood, understood. |
| Russell | Fuck. |
| Dudley | So Verstappen on pole, half a second to him. Sorry, Norris on pole, nine tenths to him. |
| Russell | Are we fourth, or… |
| Dudley | Still fourth, yeah, P4. So Norris, Verstappen and then Sainz P3. |
| Dudley | George, did you touch the wall at all or you just felt… |
| Russell | I didn’t, no. |
| Dudley | …something strange with the suspension, copy? |
| Russell | I didn’t touch the wall. Initially I thought it was hydraulics, but… |
| Russell | Yeah, that’s a shame after Q1 and Q2. |
| Dudley | Yeah still a long way to go tomorrow, though. |
| Russell | Yeah, for sure. |
| Wolff | George, was the grip much worse? |
| Russell | Yeah, I couldn’t get it working like I could on the X [full wet tyre]. And then the last two laps I had that steering issue. |
| Wolff | Good to keep it on the road. |
| Russell | Yeah, for sure. Race tomorrow. |
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