Russell: We have to think about the big picture

Qualifying in Miami in Mercedes was unsuccessful…

George Russell (6th): “I can’t say I’m satisfied, although the result is even slightly better than the capabilities of our car this weekend.

In the second part of qualifying I gave everything to reach the final. This is of course not the shape we had in mind. Everyone in the team is working hard to make the car faster. She lacks speed, not because of a lack of effort, it’s just the situation.

Usually we are more competitive on Sunday than on Saturday. Alpine and Haas start next to us, I hope we can overtake them. And Ferrari usually has more problems on Sunday. Now we will focus on tomorrow, but we need to think about the big picture, about how we can impose the fight on the leaders.”

Lewis Hamilton (13th): “Tough session. The car lacked speed, it was necessary to complete a perfect lap to reach the final, but it was not easy to find the right rhythm – there was not enough speed in the last corner.

At some points the car looked normal, at the end of the first part of qualifying I showed a good time, but only at the end of the top ten.

In the second session on the last lap I was last in the group and tried to warm up the tyres. Everyone slowed down in the last corner, the tires got cold and I couldn’t do a good lap. When the car is fast you are calm, you can leave at the last minute, with the confidence that you will calmly reach the final. But today we knew the odds were 50/50.

Let’s see what happens tomorrow. I haven’t started 13th in a long time.”