As he spoke to the TV cameras immediately after grabbing a front-row slot, he reckoned a tyre offset that Mercedes had locked in was a great option to have.
“We've got an extra set of medium tyres tomorrow, which nobody around us has,” he said.
“So, to get to Q3 and be on the front row with a strategic advantage tomorrow, is an exciting place to be.”
Both Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton are alone among the Q3 runners in having the extra set of mediums (two rather than one), which the team committed to early in qualifying as it deliberately saved a set.
The choice was prompted by suspicions from Friday practice that degradation around the newly-resurfaced Marina Bay circuit may be higher than is normal – which could turn the Singapore GP into a two-stopper.
Should that be the case, then a lot of teams at the front will face a tricky choice in how they deal with the final stint to the line.
And it is in these circumstances that Mercedes feels it could have earned itself a critical advantage.
Source: Autosport