Will Russell be driving tomorrow after launch?

Hamilton: I won’t back down

The top three on the grid don’t fight for the World Cup – but Hamilton in P4 does. “I’m in a slightly different situation than the people around me,” the world champion also knows, but he clarifies: “It doesn’t mean I won’t fight hard.” It’s about finding the right “balance” when it comes to taking risks. He’s always managed to do this relatively well in the past.

So Norris & Co. will not be voluntarily allowed to take over the field tomorrow!

Hamilton’s second slip…

…you can watch the video again here. One can, of course, say positively: it is better today than tomorrow!

Ricardo is not completely satisfied

We talked a lot today (logically) about Lando Norris. But what does his teammate actually say after P5? “Under the circumstances, it was easy to gain time or waste time,” said Ricciardo. “There were definitely a few corners where I got caught – but that’s okay.” With Norris in pole position, he can live well with P1 and P5 as a team result.

Today’s best pictures…

… you can of course find it in our gallery again today. Among other things with stylish delightful images of McLaren!

Seidl: Mercedes is in a ‘different league’

McLaren tycoon, but you don’t see yourself as tomorrow’s favourite. “If the circuit conditions are normal, Mercedes in particular is in a different league,” recalls team boss Seidl. “They are historically very strong in this field. That was shown again yesterday. So I think it will be very difficult to keep Lewis behind us in a way. Special “.

But this does not mean that another victory is impossible. You just want a good result tomorrow, Seidl said, “without focusing too much on winning.”

Alonso: Finally fast in the wet too

“It was a nice surprise today,” the Spaniard said after P6, and he recalls: “At Imola we weren’t able to compete in the wet. At the spa we didn’t feel comfortable either in the wet weather. So we had some doubts about how that would happen. It will be here in Inters–and we were fast. That’s good news.” In the end, there was more to it.

“I think I could have finished fourth if I had managed the last sector. I hit the white line and that was enough to lose three or four tenths. In the end I was only one and a half tenths of P4. So it would be so,” said Alonso, who also explained That he wouldn’t be able to hold P4 against Hamilton in the race anyway.

Pirelli expects a stop

A reminder: Since qualifying took place today in wet conditions, all 20 drivers will be free to choose tires tomorrow. According to Mario Isola, this should mean that everyone will try to stop. Because, according to Pirelli, tomorrow will be the fastest with a comprehensive strategy. Italians will likely expect a medium hard or soft hard variant.

Outing: P4 it was possible

At least that’s what team boss Otmar Szafnauer says, who explains: “Lance did a great job with P8. If he didn’t have that much time behind Checo on his fastest lap in the third quarter. [Perez] Losing in Sector 3, he would have qualified fourth. It’s frustrating, but it shows the pace of our cars and how much Lance shines in the changing weather conditions.”

At the end of the day, Stroll was 0.9secs off P4. So he must have lost a lot of time behind Perez.

Speaking of Masepin…

Why was it so slow today anyway? “We had different strategies because we didn’t know how to deal with Sochi [Intermediates] He explains, pointing to his teammate’s big gap. “At Spa, these tires worked if you only used them for a couple of times,” he recalls. But here they are working on five rounds.”

“Unfortunately I did very well in the middle of the session when our tires started working, but in the end I only had two laps [statt fünf] He was unable to raise the tire temperature. The bottom line is that we could have advanced with one or two positions.”

Schumacher: Secretly hoping for Q2

After P17, the rookie revealed that he was secretly hoping to get to Q2 in tough conditions. He reveals: “I like these conditions.” But he was “not completely satisfied” with his lap – even though he was four seconds (!) faster than his teammate. In general, however, one can feel good. In a drought you will likely return tomorrow.

Because of the numerous penalties, Schumacher starts the race from P15.

Hamilton confirms: There was no pressure

Even the world champion himself made it clear that his mistakes today had nothing to do with pressure in a world championship fight. “Mistakes just happen,” he shrugs and explains, “I went into the hole and didn’t have much time.” He wanted to get as much time as possible to get out of the spots. So he drove into the pits “a little faster than usual” – and then slid into the wall. But this has nothing to do with pressure.

Hamilton: Looks like no damage was done to the car

The Briton explains on his media tour that it doesn’t look like his car was damaged any worse when he hit a wall in the third quarter. Comment may be okay. The team will take a closer look at everything in the evening. Regarding the possibility of changing the engine, he could not say anything, he did not know.

Verstappen is allowed to start

Just a formality, but we’ll mention it here anyway. Since the Dutchman has not set a time in the first quarter, he will normally not be eligible to race. However, the stewards have now made it clear that the world championship leader can still take part in the race because qualifying took place in the wet areas. The same also applies to Masepin, who missed the 107 percent mark today.

Hamilton’s new engine?

Even before the race at Monza, Toto Wolff didn’t want to rule out Lewis Hamilton getting a new engine. In the end, as is known, she did not change. Before Sochi, now the same game again. When asked, he said on his media panel, “I have never lied to you in my entire life, and I will never lie to you either.”

“That is why I unfortunately cannot comment on this question at this point, as the politician would say,” said Wolfe with a smile. When he said that Helmut Marko expected to change the engine, Wolff said with a smile: “Well, if he says so! Then we’ll see what we do tomorrow …”

Is Russell driving after launch?

Wolf just put forward this thesis on his media tour. Historically, P3 is the best starting place in Sochi. “I wouldn’t be surprised if George leads the race after the third lap,” says Wolf. In this context, P4 is also “not a disaster” for Hamilton, because the downstream on its way to the second turn is very strong. We’re curious whether these predictions are correct!

Wolff on Hamilton: It wasn’t the pressure

The Austrian media tour is currently underway. He makes it clear that he doesn’t think Hamilton made mistakes today because the pressure in the World Cup is very high. The Briton finally knew Verstappen would start from the back tomorrow. So he doesn’t think it has anything to do with pressure. In addition, other drivers could have made mistakes today in difficult conditions.