Russell ‘not comfortable’ with W14: ‘I almost feel like I am going to crash…’
Russell has endured a scrappy Belgian Grand Prix weekend as he’s been out-qualified by teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The former Williams driver ruined Hamilton’s final lap in the shootout after locking up at La Source, costing the seven-time world champion a potential pole position for the sprint.
Despite his struggles in qualifying, Russell has fared well in the races, recovering from 18th on the grid in Hungary to finish sixth.
He enjoyed a late charge in the sprint race, finishing eighth after passing Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon.
Despite his tidy comeback, Russell labelled it as a “difficult weekend” before explaining why he’s been struggling recently.
“It’s been a difficult weekend for us,” he said. “I feel like my mojo is back, a little bit.
“I’ve not been comfortable whatsoever. I’m not sure what’s going on. I almost feel like I’m going to crash whenever I push the car. Qualifying has always been one of my strengths, I’ve always been super comfortable in quali. Now? It’s my biggest weakness of the past two races.
"We started P18 last weekend on a track where you can’t overtake and finished P6. Tomorrow we start P8 and have a better race car than quali. It’s the turning phase. It’s not helped by having a lot of bouncing this weekend. As I’m turning, the car is hopping around and I feel like, if I push harder, I’ll end up in the wall. I pushed in quali and, every time I did, I went off the track.”
Reflecting on the sprint itself, he added: “In a six-lap race we overtook four cars, we were the quickest on track after Max. Relatively satisfied.
“It was my choice to pit one lap after the restart which ultimately was the incorrect decision. I lost two or three positions.
“By staying out two more laps we’d have been maybe three positions higher.”
