F1 | Mercedes: Russell fifth in the Austin Sprint Shootout, Antonelli out in SQ2

The Sprint qualifying day at Circuit of the Americas It ended with mixed results for Mercedes. George Russell will start from fifth position in today's Sprint race, while Kimi Antonelli failed to make it to the final stage of the session, finishing eleventh, just six thousandths short of the cut in favour of Lewis Hamilton.

In Sprint Shootout, both drivers passed the first phase with just one flying lap. SQ2, however, proved more complicated: Antonelli improved towards the end, but was left out by a handful of thousandths. Russell, on the other hand, with tyres Soft Drinks mandatory in SQ3, completed only one useful attempt, finishing in fifth position behind the Kick Sauber by Hulkenberg, author of an astonishing tempo.

“I don't think we had the potential for pole,” he commented. Russell after the session. Hulkenberg drove a great lap, and the result shows how compact the group is. Overall, this year, when everything goes well, we're able to fight at the front, while on the more difficult days, we finish around fifth place. The goal is to have a more competitive car in the race than in qualifying. Sprint weekends are never easy, but we'll try to make the most of every opportunity and prepare as best we can for Sunday."

More bitter is the comment of Antonelli, disappointed at being eliminated from SQ2: “It's frustrating to miss out by such a small margin. I felt comfortable in SQ1, but in SQ2 I made two braking mistakes that cost me dearly. We had the pace to get into SQ3 and fight for the top five. I'll try to reset everything, give my all in the Sprint, and improve in qualifying tomorrow. If we can start further up the field, we'll be able to show better pace. The Sprint will be useful to understand where to intervene and how to adapt the car for the race.”