George Russell delivered Williams Racing with 14th at the close of qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix, with the 22-year-old progressing to Q2 for the sixth time in the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship.

After a productive Friday practice program in which the Briton completed over 300 kilometres of running, George continued his preparations on Saturday morning, concluding FP3 with the 13th-fastest time.

When qualifying arrived, George produced a 1:34.629s lap of the Sochi Autodrom which was initially worthy of 13th place until a period of continual track evolution saw the lap times begin to tumble.

Slipping into the elimination zone, George produced a 1:34.020s lap at the close of the session, improving upon his previous personal best by 0.609s to progress to Q2 for the sixth time in 10 races this season.

In the second part of qualifying, George and his Williams Racing team opted to complete one run in the middle of the session to avoid traffic – a decision that proved to be successful with a 1:33.585s lap ending as the final product.

This lap – the 22-year-old’s best of the weekend – was ultimately worthy of 14th place and 13th on the grid following a penalty for Alexander Albon.

George Russell – Williams Racing Driver

“That was more than we could have expected and hoped for, so I am very happy. Our goal was to out qualify both Haas and Alfa this weekend and we did a really good job to get ahead of them in Q1. In Q2, it was great to jump ahead of Sebastian as we only had one set of tyres. The car was feeling good, I was pleased with the lap and I think we are looking in really good shape for tomorrow."

“The last couple of weekends we have been focusing more on the Sunday as we have recognised our Saturday pace has been good, but our Sunday pace has not quite matched it. We have rebalanced our quali and race pace here, which will put us in a good position tomorrow. I think Haas and Alfa still have the edge on us, so I think it will be a race to drive as quick as a I can and check my mirrors to make sure they are not going to overtake me.

George will contest 53 laps around the Sochi Autodrom on Sunday afternoon for the Russian Grand Prix – the 10th race of Formula 1’s present campaign.