Mercedes’ George Russell had a strong start to the 2026 F1 Italian GP, topping the final two practice sessions of the weekend. Coming into qualifying, he was a top contender for pole position. Instead, Russell missed out on pole by a mere 0.060s.
The Briton will start the 2026 F1 Italian GP P2 on the starting grid behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Nonetheless, Russell shared that he was in a “great place to start” the race and is targeting the win. The 28-year-old also reflected that he was pleased with his performance thus far in the second half of the season.
Russell reflects on qualifying at 2026 F1 Italian GP
Reflecting on his performance in qualifying, George Russell admitted that his W17 did not feel the same as the car that brought him to the top of the timesheet in FP3 earlier in the day. He also blamed Max Verstappen for his time loss against Gasly, as he started his final flying lap too close to the Dutchman.
“Yeah, I mean, it was a very scrappy session. The car didn’t feel quite as good with the car as I did in FP3. I was struggling with locking up. And then come Q3, we had a bit of a mess with [Max] Verstappen entering the lap. He wanted to go for the tow. Kimi [Antonelli] was there as well. And I did my lap a second and a half behind Max, which wasn’t ideal.”
Nonetheless, Russell took the time to congratulate Pierre Gasly on his maiden pole position in F1, highlighting the Frenchman’s speed throughout the session.
“It takes nothing away from what Pierre [Gasly] achieved because, as he said, they were flying all day, quickest in Q1 and right up there from the beginning. So yeah, I’m happy, happy for Pierre. And of course, disappointed we weren’t on pole ourselves. However, great place to start for tomorrow.”
Mercedes did not anticipate Gasly as a threat
When asked if Mercedes ever saw Gasly as a threat throughout the session, Russell admitted that he never expected Alpine to be in the fight for pole position.
As explained by the seven-time race winner, in the early segment of qualifying, it was common for midfield teams with the likes of Racing Bulls and Alpine to put in highly competitive laps that placed them higher up in the time sheets. However, this was mainly because top teams such as Mercedes usually ran a more conservative tyre strategy. Hence, Russell did not ” think too much of” Gasly’s quick pace when the Frenchman topped Q1.
“I mean, they’ve looked strong the whole weekend, but we’ve often seen in Q1 some sort of midfield teams have competitive laps. And you’ve seen it with VCARB a few times where they’ve been sort of top three at the beginning of the session. And I didn’t think too much of it. I just thought, you know, they look fast. Pierre clearly did a great job in Q1.
“But no, I don’t, to be totally honest, I don’t think we thought they were in the fight. And it goes to show what a great job he did and their team to get the pole and one of the few drivers to improve on that last lap. And yeah, pretty impressive.”
Russell confident heading into the 2026 F1 Italian GP
“Definitely, I’m in with a shot of the win. It’s going to be interesting fights with Pierre as well. I think they’ve got a car that’s got some good straight-line speed, which will be nice for them in the race. I don’t really know where the fight is tomorrow, but yeah, confident I’ve got the pace to go for the win.”
Russell currently sits P2 in the Drivers’ Standings, 59 points behind teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli. When asked how important winning the 2026 F1 Italian GP would be, the Briton emphasised that every race weekend was important. Instead, the 28-year-old is more impressed with his performance thus far coming out of the summer break.
The 2026 Italian GP is the second consecutive weekend that Russell has qualified on the front row, leading the Briton to compare his current form to his early-season strong pace. He added that he was excited that he had regained his confidence in his W17.
“Every race is very important, to be honest. I’m more pleased just about the performance in general. You know, I’ve come back from a summer break. Every lap, every session, I’ve been sort of in the mix of the top three positions, similar to where I was at the start of the year. I had that very tough run of form prior to the break where every lap, you know, I wasn’t even inside the top five. So just to come back, I’m just sort of pleased to have found my feet again. Of course, to win is going to be very important tomorrow, but I’m more pleased about the performance.”
On Verstappen in Q3
Russell then shared his insights on the final moments with Verstappen in Q3 at the 2026 F1 Italian GP. The Briton shared that Max Verstappen had “slammed on the brakes” at the end of the out lap as he was just in front of the Mercedes duo, which the Brit believes hurt his final flying lap and was the reason he lost pole to Gasly.
The 28-year-old revealed that he was supposed to gain a slipstream from teammate Antonelli, but Verstappen’s position prevented this from happening.
“No, everything was all looking fine. But then going into Parabolica, Max just slammed on the brakes and he didn’t want to be the lead car. So it’s just one of those things, you know, you can’t control what other people do. Kimi was there to give me the slipstream, which he did perfectly on the first run. But obviously with Max, I think it also made it difficult for Kimi to know what to do as well. So it was just a little bit unfortunate.”
While the British driver admitted that it was not the best strategy, he did defend it, sharing that Mercedes wanted to maximise their potential in the closing stages of qualifying.
“In hindsight, probably would have been better off not trying this. But, you know, we wanted to give it everything. And nevertheless, you know, P2 is a good place. We’re ahead of our rivals and still have a great shot to fight for the win.”
Russell expects to take a penalty in the second half of the season Antonelli
Coming into the 2026 Italian GP weekend, Mercedes chose to fit Kimi Antonelli’s W17 with a completely new power unit. However, under the regulations, this exceeded the Italian’s seasonal allocation for multiple components, giving him a cumulative 30-place grid drop penalty.
The Brackley outfit had purposely chosen Monza for the change as the track offered multiple excellent overtaking opportunities that would facilitate an easier comeback drive for Antonelli.
Mercedes has confirmed that Russell is also due for a complete power unit change, which will naturally mean he has to take on a grid penalty at a future race. The Briton’s only hope is that Mercedes will be bringing an upgrade package to the chosen weekend to make the comeback drive easier.
“Yeah, I mean, most likely I will be taking a penalty at some point in the future races. Hopefully once we have the upgrade on the car, which should make it slightly easier than it is currently. Of course, Monza is a great place and a very normal place where people usually take grid penalties.”
Despite his main title rival having a significant disadvantage at the 2026 Italian GP, Russell stressed once again that his focus is purely on the race itself and not the championship. He also reiterated that he was very proud of his performance coming into the second half of the season, especially with his form in Monza and Zandvoort the weekend prior.
“But it’s honestly something I’m not thinking about. The championship isn’t what I’m thinking about. I’m solely thinking about my performance. And, you know, this weekend has been a very strong performance. We didn’t nail it when it really mattered. But we’ve still been in the top three every single session this whole weekend. And again, in Zandvoort, you know, qualified on the front row in both of the sprint and the main race. So I’ve been pleased with this momentum since the break.”
