George Russell blames 'Sandwich' for failing to better results in qualifications at Imola

Despite being one of the fastest cars in the free practice sessions Mercedes once again failed to finish in the top 5 in the qualification round. George Russell outplayed his teammate Lewis Hamilton and finished sixth on the grid. On the other hand, Hamilton will start eight on Sunday. 

However, after the qualification round, Russell opened up about the event and said that sixth was the maximum he could have got. Additionally, he said that eating a sandwich held him to surpass Carlos Sainz for the fifth position. 

"I felt really happy today, I felt really strong throughout qualifying - P6 was the maximum. Always annoying when it's so close to the car ahead. I'm half a kilo too heavy this weekend myself”, Russell told the media. 

"You don't think that's ever gonna make a difference but half a kilo would have put me P5, which will probably be P4 on the grid, so blaming my sandwich at lunch for that one grid position," he further joked.

George Russell expressed dissatisfaction for missing the 4th position

Speaking with media George Russell hinted at the possibility of starting in fourth position had he managed to outpace Sainz for fifth. This potential gain was a result of Oscar Piastri facing scrutiny from the stewards for impeding Kevin Magnussen's Haas during Q1.

Notably, the McLaren driver initially secured the second-fastest time, he was summoned to the officials shortly after the session's conclusion. Ultimately, Piastri was deemed responsible, resulting in a three-place grid penalty that demoted the Australian to fifth and promoted the Ferrari to fourth.

Despite the setback, Russell maintained an optimistic outlook regarding a stronger showing on Saturday, especially with his Mercedes team introducing the second half of the upgrade package unveiled in Miami. "I took satisfaction from that lap because it felt well-optimized. It felt really strong, and the car felt great. We know where we are”, he explained.