George Russell put his Mercedes on pole position in Qualifying for the F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP, with teammate and Championship leader Kimi Antonelli in third.
After experiencing a difficult time in recent rounds in Canada and Monaco, where Russell lost valuable points in the battle for the Drivers’ Championship against Kimi Antonelli, the Briton was on top of the Mercedes from the first practice session. Heading into Qualifying as the favorite for pole, Russell delivered and will head into tomorrow’s race from the top spot.
Russell “really happy” after Qualifying for the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP
In the FIA press conference following Qualifying for the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP, Russell was glad to have found his “groove” again after a run of “bad luck” and subpar drives, which he felt was more important than securing pole position.
“I’ve got to be honest, just really happy to be back in my groove over the course of the whole weekend.
“It’s been a difficult few races for me. Obviously, bad luck, there have been some poor performances in there, but I went back to an approach that I knew works for me this weekend. And more important than the pole position for me was just in sort of every lap of the whole weekend, I was in the top two positions and I felt confident, I felt good.
“Just felt like my old self again. So that was, regardless of what happened in Q3, you know, Lewis did a really amazing job and also could have got the pole position as well, but regardless, that was the most important thing for me this weekend.”
A return to form for Russell was confirmed by pole in Qualifying
With drivers still adapting to the new regulations and the challenges they provide, the Mercedes driver finds it difficult to get “on top” of everything. The competition with teammate Antonelli has also put pressure on the Briton to level up his own performance. Elaborating on what helped him return to form, Russell notes that reverting to a default setting was key and has paid dividends, with a pole in Qualifying for the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
“Car set-up, mentality, just going back to basics really.
“These cars are so complicated, the tyres are complicated, the power units are complicated, and it’s challenging to get on top of things. Especially when I’ve got a guy like this next to me who’s been performing so well, you’re trying to constantly improve, and I think that, doing some copy-pasting probably really put me on the back foot.
“So, as I said, this weekend I’ve just gone in my own direction, and that’s what I’ve done in the past for the last few years, and I’m really glad to see it paying off.”
“Wrong decisions” played a role in the recent performance slump
Starting the season strong, Russell names the 2026 F1 Miami GP as the race where his season began to unravel a bit, as he no longer felt as comfortable as before. The Briton conceded that “wrong decisions” likely played a role in his recent performances. Now, Russell is “glad” to have found himself, repeating that, to him, this was more important than achieving pole in Qualifying.
“It just feels back to what I felt at the start of the year during winter testing, you know, Barcelona here, Bahrain testing, Melbourne, China.
“I felt really comfortable in the car, really happy. And, you know, Miami was just the first weekend where everything felt pretty challenging, and that’s where I think, I can accept, and with my direct group of engineers we can accept, we probably made some wrong decisions in these last three races.
“As I said, more than anything, more than this pole position, I’m just glad to feel myself again, feel at one with the car again, as I have done for the last few years.”
Russell on his chances for tomorrow’s race
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, his 100th with Mercedes, Russell points to the Mercedes showing “great pace” in practice. Even though Russell appears to have gotten back on top, he recognizes that he will have to fight, not only his teammate, but Lewis Hamilton, who surprisingly split the Mercedes duo, for the victory in the 2026 F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP.
“I think we have a really great race car, to be honest. We showed really great pace on Friday.
“Of course, you know, Kimi is going to be a real threat, no doubt. But Lewis, I think, really surprised all of us with his strong pace today. We all thought the fight was going to be with the McLarens in qualifying.
“We made a step to McLaren, but then Lewis, you know, from lap one in Q1, it was, “Well, you know, where’s this come from?” So maybe we’ll have a surprise tomorrow as well.”
