Russell ‘lost confidence lap after lap’ in Q3

The young Brit had looked on course for a position among the top two rows during his first home grand prix with his new Mercedes team, but a disappointing Q3 performance saw him slip down the order.

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The consensus around the paddock seems to be that Mercedes have found their speed and both Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso admitted the W13 would be too quick for them on Sunday.

Despite this, Russell finished behind those two and will need to overtake them quickly should he wish to attack the frontrunners.

Speaking after Q3, the 24-year-old said he “lost confidence lap after lap” and that he believed the team deserved more.

“As the session progressed, [I] just sort of lost confidence lap after lap and the Q3 just wasn’t there for me,” Russell told reporters.

It was intense, but the @MercedesAMGF1 drivers put in a great effort on a tricky drying track

Perhaps the team could have hoped for more, but tomorrow will be a different challenge #OutRaceYourself #PETRONASMotorsports #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/OzkqYZvMaA

— PETRONAS Motorsports (@PET_Motorsports) July 2, 2022

“The car felt good on the last lap but then I made a mistake so an annoying, frustrating session because I think as a team, I mean we definitely deserve more, or the team deserve more, but we’ve made some real progress in the dry at least.

“The race tomorrow would have been really interesting, still will be interesting, but we’re now on that back foot.”

Despite starting on the back foot, Russell was bullish in his expectation, stating that he believed he