“I had a moment on my first run and we had to replace the front wing, so there was a moment where I thought we wouldn’t make it to the flag. I’m just so happy and we have to dive deep to understand why we were so fast this weekend because it was a real surprise!”

Russell continued on where his confidence came from in the third quarter, saying, “At the end of the day, sometimes you have to put it on the table. I had confidence in myself. I knew that if I could get a clear lap it would be enough to secure a front row start, so to take pole position is incredible. Ultimately, we have had some good qualifications lately, and we now have to convert them into a victory.”

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Russell’s team boss Toto Wolff, meanwhile, praised his driver’s efforts when speaking on F1 TV after the session: “The weekend has gone very well so far. The car is fast and we achieved results in all those sessions.