Russell: Our race is likely with those behind us

Russell qualified third for the Austrian GP after inheriting that place from McLaren's Oscar Piastri whose best lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 6. He starts behind reigning Formula 1 Champion Verstappon (pole) and Norris (second)

It was a strong performance from Russell who finished fourth in the Sprint Race, just hours ahead of qualifying for the main race on Sunday.

Speaking in Mercedes' Saturday press release, Russell said: "We can be pleased with P3, and a second row start for tomorrow's Grand Prix.

"The car has been feeling great which is fantastic to see given how hard the team has worked to bring our recent updates. We've got a real fight on our hands with those around us, in particular Ferrari. We look to still be slightly behind the McLarens and Verstappen, but things are moving in the right direction for us," he explained.

The new for 2024 Sprint format allows changes to the cars between the Sprint and qualifying, and Russell revealed Mercedes have done some changes with long race pace in mind.

"We made a few adjustments, including the wing level, after the Sprint," he said. "That should help with our tyre degradation tomorrow [Sunday]. We were happy to sacrifice a little of our single lap performance to help our race tomorrow.

"Verstappen and Norris do seem to have that edge on us so realistically, our race is likely with those behind us," he admitted. "It's important that we don't compromise our race too much battling with those guys but let's see what happens.

"Either way, it is encouraging that this is the third race in a row that the team has qualified in the top-three," Russell concluded.

Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes did not enjoy as good a Saturday as Russell , failing to pass Ferrari's Carlos Sainz for fifth in the Sprint Race, having to settle for sixth, while he was outqualified by his teammate and was only fifth.

"The Sprint was a little frustrating," the seven-time F1 Champion reflected. "I was able to get close to the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz but wasn't quite able to challenge him.

"We therefore made some changes to the car after the Sprint and that helped. We were able to improve its overall balance and that enabled us to make a step forward. My final lap in Q3 was decent although my middle sector was a little bit down. P5 was better than we managed in Sprint Qualifying though so overall, it was an OK day," he explained.

"The adjustments we made to the car should help us in tomorrow's race," Hamilton continued, echoing Russell's comments.

"I am therefore hopeful that we will have better race pace than we showed in today's Sprint. It will be important to get past the Sainz if we are to be in the fight for the podium. Let's see what we can do," he concluded.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, summed up his team's Saturday at Spielberg, he said: "It has been a solid day for us all in all, but also showed us what we are currently lacking to be able to race right at the sharp end.

"George and Lewis delivered strong performances in the Sprint - as usual, it's not easy to make up places when everybody is on the same tyres, but George drove nicely to regain position on Sainz and finish P4, with Lewis just behind in P6.

"We made some set-up changes for Qualifying to try and give the drivers a better-balanced car for tomorrow's race," the Austrian pointed out.

""Like we saw yesterday, Max was untouchable in the high-speed corners in the second half of the lap, and the two McLarens remained annoyingly close but not quite within reach. Our drivers are separated by just six hundredths of a second - and there's another car between them. We have inherited a position from Piastri, which puts both cars on the clean side of the grid for the start, and we hope to be able to race hard from there to score as many points as possible.

"The Sprint showed it's very closely matched between the top four teams, and a tenth of pace at the right part of the stint can be decisive, so hopefully we can keep the positive momentum going in tomorrow's Grand Prix," Wolff concluded.