Russell: When we set up we focused on the race

George Russell posted the third fastest time in qualifying in Spielberg, although he lost half a second to the pole holder on a short track…

George Russel (3rd): “The car is OK now. The team has worked hard to modernise it and we feel like we are in the fight, at least with Ferrari. We are a bit behind McLaren and Max was in a different class today, but we are going in the right direction.

After the sprint we changed something on the car, adjusted the angle of attack of the wings, which should reduce tire wear tomorrow. When we set up the car we focused on the race, so third place suits me very well. Lewis and I have been in the top three for three races in a row. It’s a lot of fun.

At the start of the sprint, Verstappen and Norris were very aggressive, so tomorrow I will initially sit in third place, watch their actions and hope to attack on the inside radius. To be honest, they have an advantage. Obviously we are going to be behind, it is important not to spoil the race too much for ourselves by fighting with them.”

Lewis Hamilton (5th): “The sprint was a bit disappointing. I got close to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari but couldn’t attack him, so after the sprint we made some changes and that helped in qualifying – the overall balance improved.
My last lap in the qualifying final went well, although I missed the middle sector a bit. Fifth place is a better position than in sprint qualifying, so overall the day went well.

The changes we made to the car should help in tomorrow’s race. I hope we will be faster than in today’s sprint. It is very important to get past Sainz to fight for the podium. Let’s see what happens in the end.”