George Russell: Third place is our maximum for today

      George Russell clocked the third time in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, losing 0.113 seconds to pole holder Max Verstappen. After the session, the Mercedes driver called this result the maximum for today, given the speed of his rivals.

      Kimi Antonelli qualified fifth, repeating his best result of his career.

      George Russell (3rd): "To be honest, if I had been told before qualifying that I would show the third time, I would have agreed. I'm very happy with the lap, but when I saw how small the gaps were, I started to think I could have performed a little better.

      But if we are realistic about the balance of power, then we knew that this was our maximum for today. On fast tracks, we are slightly behind the pace of the McLaren. Max did a great job again, so congratulations."

      Kimi Antonelli (5th): "It was a very intense qualifying! Overall, the session went well, and I continued to gain speed. On the first lap of the first session, I locked the wheels and had to use a second set of new tires to get through to the second part. It's not the most ideal situation, but we reached the final. With red flags, the whole fight came down to a single attempt anyway.

      I need to review the replay of my lap to understand exactly what happened, but I lost a few tenths in the first sector. It's a pity, because I did well for the rest of the lap and could have counted on fourth place.

      I feel more confident every weekend. The racers are going through a real test on this track – the walls are very close, the speeds are high, so confidence is needed. Step by step, which I do and gain experience, I feel that stability is beginning to come to me.

      Let's not get ahead of ourselves and see what we can do on Sunday. It's going to be a long race, and I hope I can score a lot of points for the team."