Mercedes driver George Russell faced a frustrating qualifying session at the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix, securing only fifth place on the grid. He will start behind Racing Bulls‘ Isack Hadjar, who delivered an impressive performance by qualifying fourth, surprising many including Russell himself. The session took place at the coastal Zandvoort circuit, where challenging conditions compounded the difficulties faced by several drivers.
Russell Surprised by Hadjar’s Strong Qualifying Effort
Reflecting on the outcome after Saturday’s session, Russell admitted to underestimating Hadjar’s pace.
“Yeah, he did a great job, to be honest,”
Russell said about the French driver’s unexpected placement.
“It’s been really tight all weekend between the majority of the field and you saw how fast the Astons were in practice and you just don’t hook it up in that Q3 lap and then you’ll be a few positions down the order but P5, anywhere from P3 to P5 is sort of where we were but we probably didn’t expect to be behind Isack.”
Performance Struggles Amid Tough Track Conditions
Russell acknowledged that he did not manage to maximize the car’s potential during qualifying. He described the lap as uncomfortable and difficult, hindered by challenging wind conditions at the seaside Zandvoort circuit.
“To be honest, no, I don’t think [I extracted everything from the car]. It was very challenging. Qualifying didn’t feel very smooth, wasn’t very comfortable. It’s difficult this circuit, especially with how windy it is.”
The Mercedes driver also pointed out how fine the margins are on this track, where a minor mistake can cost valuable tenths of a second.
“If you just hook it up, it’s a track where you could find sort of four-tenths from not really doing much different. It’s just one small slide, the tyres overheat and then you sort of lose a couple of tenths in the subsequent corners, whereas other laps you can just be like 1% below the limit, you have no slides and you just have more and more grip and a really strong lap time comes.”
Russell Looks Ahead to Race Day with Strategy in Mind
Despite the challenges he faced in qualifying, Russell remains focused on improving his position during the race. He concluded,
“So as I said, it wasn’t an amazing day, but P5 is… the race is tomorrow.”
The Mercedes driver hopes to challenge for a podium spot, emphasizing that strategy will play a crucial role given the Zandvoort circuit’s reputation for limited overtaking opportunities.
“I think realistically anywhere from P3 to… yeah, P3 is what we’re fighting for really. I think our long-run pace looked reasonably good, but it’s going to come down to strategy because it’s very challenging to overtake around here.”
