George ended Qualifying in P6 but will begin the Italian Grand Prix from the front row after penalties.

For the final practice of the weekend, George focused on Medium and Soft tyre runnings, starting the session on the Medium Pirelli compound.

Setting a benchmark time of 1.25.377, George quickly improved to 1.24.454 and into P13 before making the switch onto the Soft tyres.

The Brit moved into P4 on his first flying run on the Softs with a 1.22.357 but was pushed down the order into P7 where he ended FP3.

George made a steady start to Qualifying, taking to the Q1 session with 13 minutes on the clock to set a 1.21.785 and move into P3 before dropping into P5

Unable to improve on his previous lap time, George advanced into Q2 in P5.

In Q2, George put in his best time in the early stages of the session to place into P7 but was knocked down two places into P7 but still claimed a stop in Q3.

In the final qualifying session, George set a 1.21.542 on his first flying run to slot into P5, dropping down one position into P6 where he ended the day.

Due to a number of penalties for those ahead, George will line up on the front row of the grid in P2.

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George Russell – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One™ Team Driver

Q1 started off well, just a few tenths behind Ferrari, and I hoped that was where we were going to be - then the session just ran away from us to be honest, and I ended up 1.4 seconds away. We took a risk on the final run to save a set of new Soft tyres for tomorrow, and I'm pleased that neither Lando nor Fernando jumped us, as that was ultimately the fight for P2 on the grid tomorrow.
Looking to the race, we need to focus on ourselves - it will be hard to keep Max behind, Charles is starting in front, then we have Sergio, Carlos and Lewis coming from the back. We need to run our own race, focus on staying in the podium positions and put up a good fight.

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