Russell relieved with fourth after near-crash in practice “sapped my confidence”

In brief

Russell relieved to regain confidence lost on Friday with fourth on the grid

Russell qualified sixth behind team mate Lewis Hamilton but gained two places on the grid after penalties for Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez. That was a satisfying result for Russell who revealed he’d suffered a knock to his confidence earlier in the weekend.

“I’ve been off the pace this weekend,” Russell admitted. “The start of FP1 was good but then I had a big sideways moment and almost crashed in practice and that sort of sapped a lot of my confidence across all the practice sessions. But fortunately from lap one in Q1, sort of back to normal ways.”

Asked if it was rare for him to lose confidence in the car in that way, Russell said “this year, no, it’s not rare, to be honest.”

“Especially with the porpoising, with the stiffness of these cars. It’s a bit of a diva at the best of times.

“You always want to have a clean weekend, you never want to put the car in the wall or anything. And if you ever have a big moment that sort of takes that confidence away, it does take a little while to get back to it. But I think once the helmet’s on in qualifying, you always have a slightly different mindset and fortunately the car sort of fell back to the normal ways in qualifying.”

Antonelli takes second F4 title in a week

Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli won the Italian Formula 4 championship to secure his second title at F4 level in just seven days.

Antonelli led from pole for the first of three races at Mugello to clinch the title from Alex Dunne. It was the Mercedes junior’s second F4 title after securing the German ADAC F4 championship last weekend at the Nurburgring.

Ferrari’s Beganovic crowned FREC champion

Ferrari academy driver Dino Beganovic claimed the Formula Regional European Championship title with a race to spare after a fourth place finish at Mugello.

Beganovic started third on the grid but finished fourth behind race winner Paul Aron and podium finishers Victor Bernier and Josh Dufek. The Prema driver led the championship from the opening round, securing four wins and 11 podium finishes. He also tested an FIA F3 car for Prema in September.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

Can Max Verstappen and Red Bull become Formula 1’s new dynasty? (CNN)

"The emergence of Verstappen as a challenger – and then successor – to Hamilton’s crown has been without question one of the biggest contributing factors to the power shift at the top of the sport. Having only just turned 25, Verstappen’s peak is still likely ahead of him, while at 37 years of age it is reasonable to question – as has happened at times this season – whether Hamilton’s best years as a driver are behind him."

Vettel and Stroll on the power of data in F1 (Aston Martin)

"They can see every gear shift, every time I hit the brakes, every throttle application, what the car is doing, how the engine is responding, how the tyres are responding, how the balance of the car is responding – it’s all vital feedback."

Austin and its booming crowds an F1 favourite for drivers (Associated Press)

"Economists have estimated last year’s race pumped more than $400 million into the area economy and the series’ impact will approach $1 billion over the two races in Texas and Florida. The Texas race also gets an annual boost in public money to help pay F1′s rights fees. Epstein has applied for $40 million from a state fund to help pay for this year’s race."

Job description: Engineering Graduate (McLaren)

"Right now, we’re looking for Engineering Graduates to push us further and faster than ever on a two-year rotational programme. To tackle F1 racing’s biggest challenges with humility. To make the most of our open culture. To own the next chapter in our story. Our Engineering Graduate Programme is specifically designed to develop talent within engineering, to add new thinking and skills to the team, and to develop McLaren Racing’s future leaders."

Palou 'loved every second' of his F1 debut in Austin (McLaren)

"The car was capable of doing a lot more than I was doing, but it was so fun, and I learned so much. Working with the McLaren Racing team has been awesome - the amount of work they put in and how detailed they are is insane."

Mercedes Toto Wolff and 'George Russell' de-brief ahead of the F1 USGP (Connor Moore via YouTube)

"George and Toto are talking all things Mercedes ahead of the Formula 1 USGP when an intruder knocks!"

Formula Regional Europe round 19: Mugello (Formula Regional Europe via YouTube)

Italian F4 round 19: Mugello (Italian F4 via YouTube)

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Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

pic.twitter.com/SZOPPcUBpG

— FIA (@fia) October 22, 2022

I can’t speak for the drivers but I couldn’t hear this on stage… https://t.co/tvxtnolFro

— Laura Winter (@lauracwinter) October 22, 2022

That was a minor breach of the track limits regulations.

— Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN (@alfaromeoorlen) October 22, 2022

What a crowd!!! 🔥🔥 #USGP pic.twitter.com/spxkw5o6lF

— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) October 22, 2022

|@MarioAndretti is heading out for a run at @COTA in a 2013-specification @McLarenF1 MP4-28. The 1978 world champion has number 1 on his car. Turn 20 has been renamed after the 82-year-old, who also drove this car at Laguna Seca last week.#F1 #USGP #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/ESAG2LpLNO

— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) October 22, 2022

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

With American Formula 2 driver Logan Sargeant announced as Williams’ second driver for 2023 – provided he can secure the required superlicence points – @spoutnik is intrigued by the prospect of Sargeant racing in F1…

Sargeant in F1, who would have thought!

The battle with Piastri in 2020 was enjoyable to watch and that Mugello second race really shaped both futures, Logan being out on lap one with an unavoidable sandwich when it was all going his way with Piastri having a disappointing weekend.

He’s had mixed results since, albeit in an inferior car in 2021. This year however he had better machinery but failed to provide a real challenge to Drugovich who’s just been supreme.

Based on results and momentum I’d rather give the seat to Drugovich but Sargeant may prove a very capable driver. Williams is currently no match for McLaren but it would be nice if we get to see Piastri and Sargeant battle again.
spoutnik

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Manatcna!

On this day in motorsport

• 45 years ago today two spectators were killed during the Japanese Grand Prix after a collision between Gilles Villeneuve and Patrick Depailler. James Hunt won.