George Russell believes that gravel on the track from team mate Kimi Antonelli’s off in Sprint Qualifying could have caused damage that brought his own session to an early close at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Neither Mercedes featured in the final phase of Sprint Qualifying on Friday, with Antonelli dramatically spinning into the gravel at Stavelot in SQ1. As he recovered to the track, stones were scattered across the asphalt.
Antonelli exited the session in last place and, while Russell was able to escape in fifth, his afternoon came to a close in SQ2, where he could manage only the 13th fastest time.
Confident that the Mercedes has strong underlying pace, Russell said: “In Q1, I ran over all of that gravel when Kimi went off. For the rest of that lap, it felt terrible, and the next lap, it felt terrible. Then my lap in SQ2 felt terrible.
“We saw some damage on the car. We need to see if that’s the reason, because obviously, it’s a big shock to be out in SQ2, and the gap was so big. I’m sure there’s a reason for it.”
Sharing Russell’s confidence that a poor Friday does not mean Mercedes is out for the count in Belgium, Antonelli said: “The car felt good over the lap, so I’m definitely confident for tomorrow, and we’ll just try to reset and look forward to tomorrow.”
As for his off, Antonelli was left searching for answers, adding: “It was actually a pretty decent lap.
“I was around P4, and it just was weird because I lost it completely on exit and I just need to check. Maybe it was a gust of wind, but it was quite weird, the way I lost the car.”
With one eye on the potential for wet weather on Sunday, Antonelli said: “It’s going to be important tomorrow to do a good quali, and then Sunday might be wet, so a lot of opportunities, but we’ll focus on tomorrow [for now].”