George Russell secured P3 on the grid for the 2025 F1 Imola GP, delivering a standout performance for Mercedes in a tense and unpredictable Qualifying session.
While Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen ultimately locked out the front row, Russell’s strategic risk earned him a top-three start — a result that even he admitted came as a surprise after a tricky build-up to qualifying.
A calculated gamble on mediums
In the closing moments of Q3, the Mercedes driver made a bold call by bolting on the medium compound tyres for his final run, a decision that raised eyebrows in the paddock. But according to Russell, the plan had been in place from the outset.
“No, that was always a plan from before the session,” he explained when asked if the tyre switch had been made on the fly. “I felt quite strong on that tyre yesterday and today. It was a bit of a risk because nine times out of ten, that will be the start tyre, or we will use that tyre at some point in the race.”
“So, in the unlikely event of a puncture or a flat spot, you’re pretty destroyed because then you’d have to use a C6 soft tyre in the race. It didn’t come without any risk, but it was a risk worth taking. We wanted to put it all on the table, and I’m pretty happy with P3.”
Soft tyres would have been the better option for the F1 Imola GP Qualifying
Russell admitted that if it weren’t for a tiny error, his earlier lap on the soft tire could have been even faster.
“I was P4 on the Soft tyre, only half a tenth behind Lando, and I had a mistake on that lap. Somehow, I accidentally short shifted coming out of Turn 12, and it just bogged down into fifth gear, and I lost about a tenth. So, I felt that I should have been P3 after the first run.
“And then it was really tight at the end. I almost missed the flag, and I opened my lap in first gear coming around the last corner because of traffic, and I lost a good tenth down into Turn 1. So that Medium tyre was definitely performing well. But I think had I been on the Soft, I probably would have still been P3.”
Finding the sweet spot
Mercedes had looked off the pace during Friday practice, and Russell admitted that qualifying performance came as a welcome surprise.
“It’s been a bit of a challenging weekend to be honest,” he said. “I was very surprised how close we were in qualifying. But like Max said, the tyres have been very challenging to get on top of. You look at Sainz in Q2 being the quickest — that came out of nowhere — and I think he then went slower in Q3. When you find that sweet spot, there’s a lot of lap time.”
“And both of my laps in Q3 felt very strong. I found that sweet spot with the tyre and found about four tenths compared to every other lap I did this weekend. So I was pretty happy, but it’ll be challenging for all of us to fight with Oscar tomorrow, and we’ll do our best to hold off Lando.”
A call for change?
The weekend’s tyre allocation raised several questions throughout the paddock, with Russell among those calling for a rethink of Pirelli’s approach — particularly regarding the experimental C6 compound, which proved difficult to optimise in Saturday’s cooler conditions.
“I do feel the concept of going softer to create more variety in the race is the right idea,” Russell said when asked about the discrepancies between Friday and Saturday tyre behaviour.
“But we sort of pre-empted this — that there will be many tracks where the C5 is better than the C6. So, then it begs the question: do you want to go back to the alternative tyre allocation where you’ve got to do a Hard, Medium, Soft in qualifying? And then you have more sensible tyres during practice sessions — then we can do more laps, the fans can watch us drive more.”
“I feel that would be a sensible midpoint — sort of mandating the Hard, Medium, Soft for the three sessions. Otherwise, based on today, next time we go to a relatively medium-high speed circuit with a C6, everyone will be qualifying on a C5, and it shouldn’t be like that.”
Russell looks to finish on the podium after F1 Imola GP Qualifying
With a third-place start and McLaren looking particularly strong, Russell is realistic about his chances in Sunday’s race — but remains confident that Mercedes are now firmly in the mix.
“Oscar will be tough to beat tomorrow,” he admitted. “But we’re in a good position, and we’ll do our best to hold off Lando and see what we can do. I’m proud of the team — that was a strong qualifying performance and we took a risk that paid off.”
