George Russell admitted his pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix came as a complete surprise to him as he did not expect the track to suit Mercedes’ car.
The W16 has been less competitive in warmer conditions this year and this is one of the hottest races so far. The FIA officially declared a “heat hazard” this weekend for the first time under new rules introduced this season.
Russell said there were few tracks where he thought Mercedes had less chance of taking pole position this year than Singapore.
“If I were to put my money on the circuits that we had a chance of being on pole I reckon this would have been among the bottom three to be honest,” he told the official Formula 1 channel. “I don’t know what we’ve done to find this performance.”
“I think we’ve all been a little bit surprised by McLaren’s lack of performance as we were expecting them to fly here,” he added. “But I’ll take it.”
His weekend got off to a poor start as he crashed heavily during second practice, which cost him the opportunity to complete a qualifying simulation. He said he didn’t begin to feel comfortable in his car until Q2, where he set the fastest time.
“It was only really in Q2 that I realised I did a good lap and I had more in the pocket. Kimi [Antonelli]’s been really quick this weekend, he’s been faster than me the whole weekend. That gave me some confidence that I know the car’s potential is there but then it’s down to me as a driver to do the job when it matters.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
He said it took him longer than usual to find the limit in Mercedes’ car in Singapore. “Sometimes, some weekends, you just hit the ground running a bit sooner,” he said. “Other times you don’t.
“I’ve found this weekend quite strange. The grip has been really high from the Tarmac, but the cars have been sliding quite a lot. It feels a bit reminiscent of Miami, where it’s really high grip but the car is sliding.
“I just didn’t have much confidence in myself, and obviously the crash yesterday set me back again. But I always remind myself, it doesn’t matter what happens on Friday. It’s Q3 when it counts.”
Russell clipped the barriers in turns 16 and 17 during his first lap in Q3. He said he tried not to let it put him off his stride.
“When you’re on a really strong lap and you just touch the wall like that, you’re a little bit tentative going into the next corner because you just don’t know if you’ve got a puncture or if the car is just going to spin out on you. And obviously, it’s a very fast corner [next], but [it was] all good in the end.”
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2025 Singapore Grand Prix
- McLaren just one-thousandth of a second faster than last year: Lap time data
- Half of 2025’s qualifying team mate battles have been won after Singapore
- Singapore was one of bottom three circuits I thought we’d take pole at – Russell
- Norris denies deliberately holding Verstappen up in qualifying
- Tsunoda, Hulkenberg and Bortoleto cleared of yellow flag infringement in Q1