‘Ahhh sugar!’ – George Russell suffers awful qualifying at Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Charles Leclerc takes pole

George Russell will start 11th for the Azerbaijan GP (Photo: Getty)

George Russell was left frustrated after his early elimination from qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix which has left him 11th on the grid for Sunday’s race.

After starting second at the last race in Australia, the Mercedes man just couldn’t extract enough pace out of his W14 at the Baku Street Circuit, but even so was at least expected to make it into Q3.

But instead, the 25-year-old was knocked out in Q2 by just 0.004s, with teammate Sir Lewis Hamilton scraping through at his expensive.

Hamilton would eventually finish fifth, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took a shock pole ahead of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

It is the first time this season that Russell has been out-qualified by his teammate, and he cut a despondent figure in the paddock afterward, telling Sky Sports: ‘I was giving it everything but I made a mistake on my last lap.

‘Even if I had made it to Q3, I don’t think I would have finished higher than eighth. It’s a funny sport, qualifying on the front row last time to being out in Q2. We’ve got another chance tomorrow [with the Sprint race] but not ideal.’

‘I wasn’t feeling great in practice. But of all the tracks to have a bad qualifying this is one of the ones you’d choose to do it. I see no reason why we can’t fight back on Sunday and come back stronger.’

Russell is currently seventh in the standings (Photo: Getty)

While many teams have bought upgrades to Baku, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has stated theirs will not come until Imola in two races’ time, adding: ‘It is confusing with the times but we are struggling.

‘It is so tiny the margins behind the top three so we have got to do the best out of it. We are losing it in three corners.

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‘We are pretty matched with Max and Leclerc in the first two corners and the end but in the middle bit the Ferrari is outstanding. 

‘I think we have it in a good window but generally the car is not stable for the drivers.  We didn’t put any upgrade on the car, that comes for Imola, so we have to do what we can with this package.’

MORE : ‘Really good surprise!’ – Charles Leclerc takes shock pole for Azerbaijan Grand Prix

MORE : ‘Get it over with’ – Max Verstappen doubles down on sprint race criticism ahead of Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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