George Russell reveals reason behind ‘subdued’ reaction to Singapore GP pole

George Russell says his calm response to taking a surprise F1 pole at the Singapore Grand Prix reflects his history with a circuit that has “bitten me” before.

Russell clinched a shock F1 pole position at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, producing two laps in Q3 good enough to take top spot.

It hasn’t been a smooth weekend for the Mercedes driver, who crashed out in FP2 at Turn 16.

Russell came alive in qualifying, producing two spectacular laps to take Mercedes’ first Singapore pole since 2018.

Russell won the Canadian Grand Prix from pole earlier this year as he eyes his second victory of the season.

Reflecting on qualifying, Russell told Sky Sports: “I am happy. It’s been a very strange weekend. I’ve been struggling.

“I haven’t been confident with myself, the car. I knew there was a lot of pace in the car as Kimi’s been doing such an amazing job this weekend but by the end of qualifying when you get those couple of sets of tyres underneath your belt and build that confidence I felt good come Q3. I had two laps for pole which was nice.”

Russell’s ‘subdued’ reaction

Unusually, Russell wasn’t overjoyed by taking pole in Singapore.

It’s a circuit that hasn’t been one of his best over the years.

In 2022, Russell endured a nightmare race, finishing 14th and two laps down.

Russell crashed out of the Singapore GP in 2023 on the final lap as he chased down Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.

2024 was a better race for Russell, finishing fourth.

Explaining his reaction to taking pole, Russell said: “This place hasn’t been my friend in the years gone by.

“Of course, being on pole position is an amazing result but this has been a track that has bitten me on numerous occasions in the past so I am not getting carried away myself.

“I am very pleased of course with the car’s performance. We’re all quite surprised by McLaren’s lack of performance because if I were to bet I wouldn’t have bet we would have been more competitive than them this weekend but of course, the race is tomorrow. It’s going to be tough but I am feeling good.”