According to his words, it was a great day: “We knew there was a lot of potential in the car, but until you get to this first Saturday of the season you never know.” he said, quoted by the official F1 website. As a bonus, the weather was on his side. As the track temperature cooled, the car came alive. It is known that lower temperatures suit Mercedes really well.

Russell also praised his teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who will be alongside Russell in the front row for Sunday’s race. “I’m also really happy to have Kimi here next to me as well because it’s been such a hard job from all the team to deliver this car and they did an amazing job in the garage as well today, so all in all a really good day.” he commented. Antonelli had a big crash in third practice and the Mercedes’ mechanics miraculously managed to get the car ready for qualifying.

Although Mercedes is in the best place possible, Russell expects the Sunday’s race to be full of challenges: “A lot of the simple things that were in the past, like race starts, pit stops, are a hell of a lot more challenging with these new cars.” he admitted. As he says, the team will try and work hard tonight, because who knows what is going to happen tomorrow.

“I’m excited for the race and I think it can bring some quite exciting racing.” he said as he thanked the crowd for all the support, hoping the racers will deliver a good race.