George Russell is in a “great position” to finally score his first Formula 1 points with Williams at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The Briton claimed his best-ever qualifying result with the Grove-based team in P11 at Portimao, narrowly missing out on Q3 by just 0.057s.
And what made that result sweeter for Russell, who has become known as ‘Mr. Saturday’, was it came after Williams had lost their way somewhat during practice.
“We were very fast in practice one and have just been struggling ever since,” he said. “In qualifying, everything came alive again.
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“I had lots of confidence and we did a fantastic job to qualify 11th – it’s our best result ever in these past three years on a Saturday – so I’m really happy.”
As the first driver outside the top 10, Russell believes his free tyre choice means Portugal may represent his best chance yet to score points at Williams.
“No reason, why not,” he said on if he could move forward on Sunday.
“This is a great opportunity. Even last weekend was a great opportunity. I was struggling all week in Imola and we came so close, so that’s the goal.
“We’re on the medium tyre for the start tomorrow. The rivals around us, who are ahead, will be on the softs, which is not a great race tyre. So we’re in a great position.
“It’s all about a good start, a good first lap. We have the straight-line speed. The guys behind us will really struggle to overtake us, so eyes forward and maximum attack.”