George Russell: McLaren and Ferrari are now faster than us.

      In the qualifying session for the sprint in Miami, the Mercedes drivers were not the clear favorites. However, while Kimi Antonelli managed to put up a fight and showed the second-fastest time, George Russell fell behind pole sitter Lando Norris by more than six tenths and only qualified sixth for the start. After the session, the British driver mentioned that he was surprised by the progress of his rivals.

      Kimi Antonelli (2nd): "It was quite a chaotic qualifying session. I had serious issues with the car – I managed to do a good lap on the Medium tires, but on the Softs, the car suddenly 'came alive,' and I felt more comfortable behind the wheel. It's a pity we didn't test the Soft compound in practice. I think we could have done better. But despite everything, I have a good result, and the team worked hard to recover. We're already looking forward to Saturday, although we still need to think about how to make the car faster this evening. We expected a challenging weekend, as all teams brought significant updates, which not only closed the gap to us but some even moved ahead. McLaren has exactly the same power unit as us, and they have heavily refined their car, so their lead is expected. But I think we can compete, and we intend to do so on Saturday and Sunday."

      George Russell (6th): "It's quite surprising how much progress McLaren and Ferrari have made – it's very impressive. We knew they could close the gap, but now they are faster than us. I might have had more problems today. The Miami track is not one of my favorites, especially in such heat. But this is just the qualifying for the sprint, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. In the twisty corners of the second sector, my tires overheated significantly, and I had trouble getting the car to the right balance. And as I said, I was surprised by the progress of my rivals. I don't know if I'll be able to compete in the sprint. I don't have the best starting position, and there usually aren't many opportunities to recover in the sprint, although it was interesting this year in China. I want to start in a way that doesn't lose positions. Let's see what we can do."