Russell and Mercedes outfoxed by Verstappen and Red Bull's "really good" run plan

George Russell and Mercedes were outthought by Max Verstappen and Red Bull's "really good" run plan during Q3 at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

The Brit said he and his German team "didn't even consider" the way the Austrian team went about the final session of qualifying, which saw the Dutchman take another stunning pole position with a brilliant lap.

The Dutchman opted to drive his first lap on used soft tyres with a slightly fuller tank, setting a benchmark around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit early on. Then, he came in for new softs and went straight back on track, allowing Verstappen to set two quick laps on a track that continued to get better and evolve by the second.

Russell and Mercedes left behind 

Russell admitted afterwards that the tactics from his rival were very clever: "I've got mixed feelings because I felt there was a bit more on the table. There's a lot of pressure going into that last lap because Oscar had a lap on the board. I think the run plan that Max did with the two laps was a really good one and one we didn’t really consider," the Brit started by saying.

"Just having that lap on the board sort of takes the pressure off. When you go into Turn 1, you've got to really send it, and you're braking at 75 metres. When you've got no lap on the board, it's like, "I've got no bailout here if I make the smallest of mistakes." So, look, P3 is much better than I thought, and to be so close to Oscar. Congrats to Max. He did a great job. It's going to be interesting tomorrow."

Not Verstappen, but Piastri the favorite?

This Sunday, it will become clear whether Oscar Piastri - despite his second starting position - is beatable in the fast McLaren. The McLarens have been the dominant team so far in 2025, with the Australian winning by 15 seconds in Bahrain last week ahead of Russell.

The 27-year-old believes that either Verstappen, Piastri, or even he himself can win: " I think it depends on Turn 1, to be honest. Max and I were just talking now. We both recognise that McLaren are the standout favourites and definitely have the pace on everybody else.

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"If Oscar gets into the lead, you'll probably see a repeat of Bahrain. If we stay in the order we qualified, I think it could be a tight race until the pit stops. The Medium tyre this year was last year's soft, which only one driver used in the whole race.

"We saw the tyres were too hard in Japan. We've all pushed to have softer tyres. Hopefully, it won't make it a slam-dunk one-stop, and there could be a couple of different strategies on the table," concluded Russell.