George Russell has expressed concern that a double dose of competitive F1 action on Saturdays could detract from the magic of Sunday’s Grand Prix. The Mercedes star addressed the new-look format after qualifying fourth for the sprint race in Azerbaijan.
After an overhaul of the rules by F1 bosses, venues for this season’s sprint weekends will hold two sessions on Saturday that are independent of the Grand Prix. The starting order for Sunday’s main event will be decided by the full-length qualifying session on Friday.
The sprint race on Saturday will allow drivers to fight for Championship points, but the result will ultimately have no bearing on Sunday’s contest. The starting order for the sprint will be decided by a shortened qualifying session earlier on the Saturday, called the ‘sprint shootout’.
Azerbaijan debuted the new format this weekend, with Charles Leclerc taking top spot ahead of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. After taking fourth for the 17-lap sprint race, Russell gave his view on what it could mean for the sport.
“Yeah [I like the format],” he told Sky Sports. “Having action every day is exciting.” However, the 25-year-old was also fearful that too much full-throttle action may not necessarily be a good thing.
“I hope it doesn’t dilute the excitement on Sunday for the fans,” he added. “It’s more fun for us because we’re driving flat out more often but we need to listen to what the fans at home think.”
The battle to stand on top of the podium is set to unfold between Red Bull and Ferrari in Baku, with both teams showing superior pace to Mercedes thus far. The Prancing Horse’s Leclerc set the pace in qualifying on Friday and Saturday, taking pole on both occasions.
Russell, meanwhile, endured a nightmare Friday session by failing to make it to Q3. He will therefore start 11th for Sunday’s Grand Prix, but a dramatically improved performance in the inaugural sprint shootout means he will have a better chance of racking up points on Saturday.
When asked what he thought of his overall performance, he explained: “I’ve got mixed feelings. Firstly I’m very happy with the job in qualifying [for the sprint]. Fourth exceeds our expectations but when I got back in the pitlane, I was like ‘bugger’ because it showed what was possible yesterday.
“We always seem to get better as qualifying progresses so there is something to learn there. We don’t purposefully make the car in that way. We have some ideas as to why that may be but I’m pleased we improved today, or I improved my driving because the car stayed the same.”
