George Russell admits 34-year-old F1 driver really impressed him in Mexico GP qualifying

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Mercedes star George Russell admits he was very impressed with AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo during qualifying at the Mexican Grand Prix yesterday.

Russell was speaking to Sky Sports F1 after a mixed session that will see him line up eighth for today’s race.

It means he’ll be four places behind Australian Daniel Ricciardo who produced a sensational performance at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

There was a lot of excitement going into the session about an unlikely driver potentially upsetting the Red Bull apple cart at the front of the grid.

That was coming from Williams driver Alex Albon, although the pace he showed in practice disappeared when it mattered.

The Ferrari drivers ended up shocking everyone by producing two magic laps in Q3 to lock out the front row of the grid.

Max Verstappen was only just behind them and he was separated from his teammate Sergio Perez by the Honey Badger.

George Russell has singled out Daniel Ricciardo for praise as he surprised everyone with his qualifying pace.

He was given a leg up by teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the first two sessions, but he produced an unbelievable lap in the final session all on his own.

Russell praises Ricciardo after Mexican GP qualifying

Reflecting on a tricky session, Russell said: “It’s been so frustrating this weekend because it’s been so up and down, like a yo-yo.

“At one point, we were the quickest in FP3, Q2 we were first and third and then in Q1 and Q3 we were nowhere.

“I think that goes for most drivers on the grid, there was only very few drivers, probably Danny [Ricciardo] was the most consistent driver throughout that session, whereas everybody else was up and down.

“And unfortunately, we were down when that mattered.”

Whether Ricciardo can keep Russell and co. behind him in the race after a mega qualifying session is another matter.

With Tsunoda already knowing he’ll be starting at the back of the grid, he was on hand to give Ricciardo a tow going down to turn one in the first two qualifying sessions.

The 34-year-old won’t have that benefit going down to the first corner later today in the race. Ricciardo would love to score his first points of the season after an eventful 2023.