Just when you see a door opening, it shuts.
It may yet be that George Russell can unlock his world championship hopes in the ‘Bahrain Grand Prix’ which has been relocated to Malaysia owing to the war in the Middle East.
But qualifying, where the indefatigable Max Verstappen took his first pole position of the season represented a serious problem for the British driver.
For while Kimi Antonelli set the fourth-fastest time, promoted to third on the grid after Isack Hadjar took an engine penalty, Russell was a distant eighth in the other Mercedes, albeit moved up a place for the same reason. It was Russell’s worst qualifying performance of the year.
The one-slot elevation apart, this was a big blow for our one national hope of title success, who lies 66 points behind championship-leader Antonelli with eight rounds remaining. Yes, Russell won in Azerbaijan a week ago, a result that could have acted as a spark to reignite the ambition of his lifetime. But this was back to earth with a bump.
His qualifying session was an elbow in the ribs, not least given that Mercedes introduced an upgrade here. Russell was 0.240 of a second back from Antonelli.
Max Verstappen will start the uprooted Bahrain Grand Prix on pole after Saturday’s qualifying
George Russell will start Sunday’s race in eighth, in a damaging blow to his title hopes
Yet, speaking afterwards in the humid Sepang paddock, Russell remained upbeat, as he needed to be going into today’s gruelling race. ‘There is going to be a lot happening tomorrow,’ he said. ‘The tyre degradation is huge and race pace will be king so even though today was a real disappointment it is not the be all and end all.’
Asked why it had been a poor weekend up to that point, he said: ‘I don’t know. This circuit is an outlier in terms of the abrasiveness of the Tarmac.
‘The lap times nine years ago were six or seven seconds faster and at certain points on the track it feels like you are driving on gravel, which is the same for everyone, but it is clearly affecting us more than others.
‘All our internal numbers say the upgrade is an improvement, but obviously we need to follow the lap times and not what the numbers suggest. The numbers look absolutely fine, and in line with expectations. However, the result wasn’t.’
Lewis Hamilton qualified second for Ferrari, three-tenths off the top with Verstappen’s team-mate Hadjar third at that point, prior to his sanction.
‘I will try my best to hold on to Max tomorrow,’ said Hamilton. ‘If we are in the fight that would be awesome. I’ve been talking too much, but I guess you talk more when you are happy. It was my best lap of the year. It feels like I won, and I will give it everything tomorrow.’
Charles Leclerc was fifth best, though he was later promoted on Hadjar’s relegation, and Lando Norris sixth, a place ahead of his McLaren pal Oscar Piastri.
Related to the subject of Norris, Franco Colapinto qualified 15th but will take at least a five-place grid penalty. That is a result of the accident he caused in Azerbaijan a week ago that put both his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly and the world champion (Norris) out of the race.
The Argentine may suffer a further sanction if, as it seems likely, he takes on a new engine. So he will go to the back of the grid.
In unexpected news, the two Aston Martins made it out of Q1, a rare occurrence. Their recent upgrades seemed to have had some rejuvenating effect, as Fernando Alonso qualified 12th and Lance Stroll 14th.
The bottom spots went to the Cadillac pair of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
On the subject of Norris, Franco Colapinto qualified 15th but will take at least a five-place grid penalty. That is a result of the accident he caused in Azerbaijan a week ago that put both his Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly and world champion Norris out of the race.
The Brazilian may suffer a further sanction if, as seems likely, he takes on a new engine.
In unexpected news, the two Aston Martins made it out of Q1, a rare occurrence. Their upgrades seemed to have had some rejuvenating effect, as Fernando Alonso qualified 12th and Lance Stroll 14th.
The bottom spots went to the Cadillac pair of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
