"And then obviously I got that yellow flag, the single yellow in the last sector, but I did a hundred-metre lift, lost a huge amount of time and still, you know… I don't know.
I don't have the answer," Russell said.
The Mercedes driver indicated he would review the data with his engineering crew to understand the performance surge.
"For sure I'll be looking with my team where it came from, but it felt very sweet," he said.
Russell contrasted his current feelings with the confidence he had last season.
"Last year every lap, every session, just had the confidence in the car to just push it to the limit and know exactly what it was going to do," he said.
He compared his technical challenges with those of Charles Leclerc.
"And I think for Charles, one of the best, definitely, qualifiers on the grid, was the same.
And for both of us, it has been challenging a lot at times [this year]," Russell said.
Despite recent difficulties, Russell maintained his core abilities remain unchanged.
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"But we haven't just forgotten how to drive.
And there is definitely an element of understanding what this car needs, what these tyres need in different conditions," he said.
Russell expressed confidence in competing at the highest level.
"Kimi has just done an amazing job day in, day out. Do I have the confidence I can beat him?
Yeah, 100%.
