George narrowly missed out on a maiden Formula 1 pole position for the Sakhir Grand Prix after lapping just 0.026s off the pace of polesitting Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

After impressing the F1 paddock by becoming Friday’s pacesetter across FP1 and FP2, George continued to test the limits of his Mercedes and familiarise himself with the Bahrain Outer Track – ending FP3 in P7.

George would then sail through Q1 in P3, but the Brit, like team-mate Bottas, would then make it into Q3 on the slower Medium compound tyre.

He continued to match his team-mate in Q2, lapping just 0.016 off the Finn before taking on Q3.

George would put in a spectacular performance in the final qualifying session, narrowly missing out on pole position by 0.026s behind Bottas, slotting into second on the grid for Sunday’s race.

George Russell

"Valtteri has pushed Lewis a huge amount in qualifying over the years, so I’m really pleased to have finished Q3 just behind him and to be on the front row for tomorrow.

It’s been incredibly intense with so much to learn and such a different way of driving in this car. I tried a lot of things in FP3, which didn’t go well at all. After final practice, I’d have been happy to just get through to Q3, so I was a bit nervous heading into qualifying. But I managed to get in the groove and was getting better and better every lap.

Obviously, I’m a bit gutted to miss out on pole by 20 milliseconds, but if you’d told me last week that I’d be qualifying P2 on the grid, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’ve got nobody in front of me tomorrow, which I’ve not experienced for a long time.
It’s going to be a really tricky race on such a short track layout, but we’re in a good position starting on the Mediums. I’ll give it my all and see what I can do."

The Sakhir Grand Prix will take place at 17:10 GMT on Sunday December 6.

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