Russell 'very shocked' if Mercedes upholds pace in race trim

George Russell will give it his all in the Hungarian Grand Prix, but the pole sitter says he would be "very shocked" if Mercedes is able to uphold its qualifying momentum in race trim on Sunday.

Russell landed an unexpected pole position in Saturday's shootout, pulling out the perfect lap around the Hungaroring's tight and twisty layout that edged Ferrari's Carlos Sainz by 0.044s.

But Mercedes' race simulations on Friday conducted on Pirelli's medium tyre pointed at first to a challenging Sunday afternoon for the Brackley squad.

"Our high fuel pace was probably the worst it's ever been yesterday," Russell commented.

However, a full review and analysis of the W13's performance that lasted until the late hours on Friday led to changes that significantly benefitted Mercedes' Silver Arrows.

But despite the improvements and Saturday's compelling performance, Russell is keeping his expectations in check.

"You take each day at a time; you don't want to get carried away with yourself and you just focus step by step," he said.

"Getting off the line, good start, good first stint - is it going to be a one, two or three-stop?

"We know we have, relatively speaking, a faster race car than we do qualifying car. If that's going to be the case again this weekend, I'll be very shocked.

"I think we just absolutely nailed today 100% and got every last millisecond out of it."

But Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff reckons Russell – with a strong start - can pull off an upset in Hungary.

"The truth is, we saw it from the beginning of qualifying that our tyres were in the right window, the car was balanced, and everything kind of came together and then the two [drivers] drove it really well, gained confidence from run to run that the grip was actually there, and this is the result," Wolff said.

"That’s a solid result. We were always off the pace on a single lap; now we’re on pole so let’s see what we can do with that tomorrow in the race and if we’re able to have the pace there.

"I believe that we are part of the fun and games in the front again.

"If we can maintain the position at the start, and be first coming out of the first lap, and drive a solid race, have some good stops – why not? We can win this."

Mercedes' improvements of late have produced five consecutive podium finishes since Baku, with Lewis Hamilton - who will start his race on Sunday from P7 after suffering a DRS issue in qualifying -  delivering a season best to his team with a runner-up spot behind Max Verstappen in France last weekend.

It's likely improbable, perhaps even outlandish, but could a Mercedes win on Sunday put the Brackley squad and its drivers back in the championship fight?

"So difficult to say because we are a very big point gap behind Max, like everybody else, but then you can see how quickly it changes today when we are out of the fight at the front, so we will never give up," replied Wolff.

"We oscillate between depression and exuberance, and that’s what makes the sport so tough and, on the other side, so exciting. I wouldn’t discount anything if we are able to win tomorrow."

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