Mercedes driver George Russell admitted he was surprised by the pace of his rivals in sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix.
According to Idman.biz, citing the official Formula One website, the Briton finished sixth, behind drivers from McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, and his teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Lando Norris took sprint pole, Antonelli was second, Oscar Piastri finished third, Charles Leclerc was fourth, and Max Verstappen placed fifth.
Russell said:
"I was a bit surprised by the progress of the others. I think most teams brought significant upgrades here, and we knew they would close the gap to us."
The main issue for the Mercedes driver was tyre performance in the middle sector of the track. He explained:
"The tyres were overheating a lot in the twisty middle part of the lap. I couldn’t find the right balance in the car, so there’s not much more to add."
McLaren has already seen strong gains from its upgrade package in Miami, with Norris securing the team’s first sprint pole of the season and Piastri also finishing in the top three. Ferrari, with its own updates, brought Leclerc up to fourth place, while Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team plans to introduce its next major upgrade package at the Canadian Grand Prix.
