‘This is what excites me about Formula 1’ – Russell targets Sprint victory after narrowly missing out on pole

George Russell was left delighted with his performance in Austin Sprint Qualifying, despite Max Verstappen narrowly beating him to pole by just 0.012s.

After a tough morning in practice with a Mercedes that appeared difficult to handle, both Russell and Lewis Hamilton made it through to SQ3 and were in the mix for the front row of the grid in Saturday's Sprint.

READ MORE: Verstappen pips Russell to Sprint Qualifying pole in Austin by 0.012s

The former ultimately ended up with P2 behind championship leader Verstappen, leaving him feeling optimistic about the team’s impressive turnaround over a single day.

It will be his first front row start since the British Grand Prix and, with just 19 laps to race, Russell will be viewed as one of the favourites to take victory in Saturday’s Sprint.

Asked about the progress between sessions, he said: “It was definitely a handful [in FP1], but I think we managed to get on top of it. We knew we had potential in the car because I don’t think we made the most of our quick laps this morning.

“The car’s been feeling really great so far with these upgrades. It’s clearly close out there, but definitely surprised ourselves a little bit with that P2.

READ MORE: Russell picks his favourite for the drivers’ title as Norris vs Verstappen battle heats up

“If we manage to qualify here in second place a couple of tenths ahead of everyone else, I’m feeling good. I’m just excited to be back in this position. It’s been a little while and this is what excites me about Formula 1 – going out there fighting for poles, hopefully fighting for a win tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, his team mate was left frustrated after a quick lap was hindered by Williams' Franco Colapinto spinning in the early part of SQ3, momentarily bringing out the yellow flag and forcing the former world champion to slow.

Russell assessed the P7 result as “a real shame”, adding that Hamilton “should have been up there” towards the front with him as Mercedes work on getting the most out of their new upgrades package.

“The good thing is the team’s made a step with the car," Hamilton said after the session. "The upgrade has clearly worked and I’m really grateful to everyone back at the factory for all their hard work over this period of time because it’s been a tough slog for everyone to get the upgrades and make sure that they’re working.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the action from Austin Sprint Qualifying as Verstappen claims pole while Piastri suffers shock early exit

“It’s not the end of the [weekend]. Tomorrow we get another chance. We did a great job in between [sessions] to make changes to the car.

“It’s always a bit of a gamble because you don’t know whether it’s going to work or not, the changes that you make, but you hope they do what you aim to do with them. As soon as I got out, the car was like night and day different so it was great work from the guys in the garage.”