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Russell explained after qualifying that he had been “just confused” why Latifi had “had the upper hand on me every single lap” throughout practice and Q1, with the Briton trailing in each session except FP3. In Q2, however, Russell reversed the Williams’ drivers fortunes to maintain his 100% qualifying record against teammates at the team – his only F1 qualifying defeat to a teammate being his loss against Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas when he stood in for Lewis Hamilton at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. Russell said “everything came alive, the car felt great” when the Williams drivers used a set of medium tyres for their first runs in Q2 – the first time the duo had reached the middle segment of qualifying together for the first time since the 2020 Hungarian GP – and he stayed ahead of Latifi when they switched back to the softs to seal 12th and 14th on the grid. When asked by Autosport what was behind Russell’s Q2 improvement, Williams’ head of vehicle performance, Dave … [Read more...] about Williams: Latifi’s strong Imola F1 form “disturbed” Russell

The 23-year-old Briton, who will start 12th on the grid at Imola, was switching to his Mercedes power unit’s push mode in Q1 when he got sideways and ran across the gravel. He was trying to leave the change to the last possible moment in order to gain the maximum benefit over his flying lap. Reflecting on the concentration lapse, he compared himself to former Williams driver Maldonado, who made 58 F1 starts for the team between 2011 and 2013 in an eventful grand prix career that is remembered as much for the Venezuelan's proclivity for incidents as his one-lap speed. "It's no secret that Mercedes are struggling a bit with the battery deployment, and every single metre gives you a metre at the end of the lap," Russell explained. “So I wanted to go into that mode as late as possible, as in halfway through the corner, before I picked up the power. “Tyres were a bit cold, I wasn't fully concentrated. It contributed to a Pastor Maldonado moment!" Read Also: Giovinazzi … [Read more...] about Russell explains “Pastor Maldonado moment” in qualifying

Indeed on Friday the quickest lap of the day, logged by Charles Leclerc in second practice, was deleted by the stewards. There’s a reasonable chance that Saturday’s qualifying session could be impacted by similar penalties. In Bahrain Turn 4 was one of the main talking points of the race, with Lewis Hamilton warned for routinely going wide, and Max Verstappen forced to hand back the lead after his late passing move saw him run off at the same corner. Inevitably the subject was the main topic of discussion in Friday evening’s drivers’ briefing at Imola, as it has often been in the past. In essence the drivers want consistency, and many felt that wasn’t the case in Bahrain where the FIA had seemingly allowed a little leeway by not imposing a firm “three strikes” rule, as is the case at many circuits for the race. Instead the drivers were in effect given the benefit of the doubt, and trusted not to take regular advantage by running wide. The problem was that Hamilton didn’t … [Read more...] about Why F1 track limits are back in the spotlight at Imola