Damon Hill feels 25-year-old F1 driver was ‘expecting more’ in Abu Dhabi GP qualifying

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Sky Sports F1 pundit Damon Hill feels Mercedes and George Russell were ‘expecting more’ in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi GP with Lewis Hamilton also down in only P11.

Max Verstappen took yet another pole position during the Red Bull driver’s record-breaking year on Saturday. He beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to P1 with Russell splitting the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. But Hamilton exited in Q2 for the fourth time in 2023.

Norris may have taken a better starting spot for Sunday’s race had the 24-year-old not made a minor error, too. Russell, ultimately, pipped the McLaren pilot’s provisional Q3 time by just 0.028 seconds. The 25-year-old was also among the last drivers across the finish line in Q3.

Russell could only qualify in P4 after topping FP3 at the Abu Dhabi GP

Russell knew the times he would have to pip as the Mercedes driver attacked the line at the end of Q3. His provisional lap time had also slipped to P9 while Yuki Tsunoda delivered in P6 for AlphaTauri. Russell would beat the 23-year-old’s time by 0.180 seconds to line up ahead.

But Hill believes Russell and Mercedes set their sights higher up the Abu Dhabi GP grid than P4. The Silver Arrows star had finished FP3 with the fastest time of the session ahead of the McLaren pair. But the cooler conditions in the evening would play to their rivals’ advantage.

Hill could see Mercedes’ pain after qualifying at the Abu Dhabi GP

Hill could also see the pain that Mercedes were feeling after qualifying with Hamilton down in P11. But having been so competitive in FP3, Russell finishing Q3 three-tenths of a second off Verstappen’s pole lap time was a huge blow for the Brackley squad given their expectations.

“It’s hurting them,” the 1996 Formula 1 champion said on Sky Sports F1 (25/11, 15:16). “You can tell from Toto [Wolff]. He’s very, very unhappy about the way things have gone.

“Even with George, they did look competitive in FP3 and they were expecting more. And, suddenly, you get to the real test and lo and behold they’re knocked back.”

Russell had also topped the first practice session of the Abu Dhabi GP weekend on Friday for Mercedes. Yet he fell down the order with just the sixth fastest time in the cooler conditions of FP2. So, the Mercedes driver also topping FP3 was just another red herring for the Briton.