Join now and get your first month for just $1 ><\/a><\/p>\nUnlike in Canada, where he last took pole but by a tiny margin over Antonelli, this weekend he\u2019s clearly been the better Mercedes driver, with Antonelli lagging behind after having had to sit out FP1.<\/p>\n
Unable to get into a rhythm, he had no answer for the on-song Russell.<\/p>\n
But in revelling in his pole position, the Englishman gave us a glimpse into where he\u2019s head\u2019s been since his form took a dive at the Miami Grand Prix about a month ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiami was just the first weekend where everything felt pretty challenging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where I think I can accept \u2014 and with my direct group of engineers we can accept \u2014 we probably made some wrong decisions in these last three races.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese cars are so complicated, the tyres are complicated, the power units are complicated, and it\u2019s challenging to get on top of things, especially when I\u2019ve got a guy like (Antonelli) next to me who\u2019s been performing so well.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re trying to constantly improve, and I think that doing some copy-pasting probably really put me on the back foot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pole position qualifier George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and Third placed qualifier Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1. Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
As alluded to by team boss Toto Wolff, Russell had responded to Antonelli\u2019s challenge this year by trying to follow the Italian on car set-up. That was particularly the case in Miami, where Antonelli was quicker than Russell even last season, something the Briton has put down to the track\u2019s unusual surface.<\/p>\n
As Antonelli continued improving, the impetus to keep following his configuration apparently increased until, after Monaco, Russell decided he needed to reset his approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis weekend I\u2019ve just gone in my own direction, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ve done in the past for the last few years, and really glad to see it paying off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I said, more than anything, more than this pole position, I\u2019m just glad to feel myself again, feel at one with the car again, as I have done for the last few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to be honest, just really happy to be back in my groove.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pole, though, is just one part of the equation.<\/p>\n
With Hamiltons tarting alongside him on the front row \u2014 and Ferrari has been getting reliably better starts than Mercedes this year \u2014 victory is far from secure. Antonelli will also get a great slipstream on the long run from the grid to the first turn and will surely attempt a move on his teammate if he can get the run.<\/p>\n
With hot weather forecast to punish the tyres, Sunday\u2019s race will be a stern test of the new George Russell.<\/p>\n
Pole position qualifier George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Second placed qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari and Third placed qualifier Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. Photo by Mark Thompson\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
HAMILTON\u2019S RUN CONTINUES AS LECLERC FEELS SHAME<\/p>\n
There were moments this weekend at which it seemed Lewis Hamilton\u2019s form upturn was about to be halted by teammate Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n
Leclerc has looked like the quicker driver for almost the entire weekend, and at times the margin between them was alarmingly large \u2014 2025-style large, even, for those willing to invoke some of Hamilton\u2019s darker days.<\/p>\n
Yet come Q3, it was Hamilton who put it all on the line and walked away with his first Ferrari front-row start.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a very tricky weekend for me personally,\u201d he said. \u201cI really struggled to get on pace after missing FP1 [for Dino Beganovic].<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been so down before in a sense of the gap between Charles and me and to everybody else \u2014 it was 0.5 seconds to 0.8 seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed to make a huge leap going into qualifying, and I knew where the time was. It was just having the confidence in the car, in the rear of the car, and I think we did a really good job, making adjustments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton revealed he\u2019d taken himself back to his motorhome between FP3 and qualifying to clear his head and refocus. Clearly it worked.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a bigger-picture story for Ferrari here.<\/p>\n
Barcelona is considered an honest test of a car\u2019s general performance, and Ferrari was just 0.064 seconds slower than Mercedes.<\/p>\n
The telemetry shows that the Ferrari car is a beast through the corners with no exceptions. Through the long and fast corners it\u2019s particularly good. It\u2019s losing time to Mercedes only down the straights.<\/p>\n
The Scuderia brought a major upgrade package to this weekend. Its last big upgrade in Miami received mixed reviews. There seems to be little doubt about this one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really down to everyone back at the factory. They\u2019ve been working so hard. We kind of know where our north star is, and for them to bring this upgrade here this weekend, I can\u2019t thank them enough for the hard work that they\u2019ve put in to bring it.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously they\u2019re still so quick, the Mercedes, so still have work to do to fully close the gap or at least get ahead, but I\u2019m really hoping that tomorrow we can.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still early in the season, so the fight is on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton. AP Photo\/Fatima ShbairSource: AP<\/p>\n
Hamilton\u2019s strong last lap made it difficult to argue that more would have been on the table had Leclerc still been on track. The Monegasque put it all on the line in Q3 as well, but rather than a front-row start, he walked away with car damage.<\/p>\n
Still, Leclerc was more than 0.15 seconds up on Russell in Q2. Perhaps there really was more to be had.<\/p>\n
After two difficult weekends, Leclerc found the situation tough to bear.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very ashamed after the last three weekends that have been particularly difficult for me to find pace for issues I had, and today and this weekend I think everything felt really, really good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn these days I need to deliver, and I didn\u2019t, so I felt very ashamed in general.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Leclerc was also glowing in his review of the upgrades and optimistic he could make up ground. He\u2019s the best starter among the frontrunners, and with strategy a big question mark in sizzling Spain, he should have a chance to score big points on Sunday.<\/p>\n
MCLAREN GETS ANOTHER REALITY CHECK<\/p>\n
McLaren was optimistic on Friday night that it was back fighting at the front and could banish the bad memories of Canada and Monaco.<\/p>\n
Though qualifying in Barcelona was certainly a step forward on last week\u2019s misery in Monte Carlo, it wasn\u2019t exactly the dream result either.<\/p>\n
Lando Norris, having topped FP2 on Friday evening, qualified fourth and was a hefty 0.322 seconds off pole. Oscar Piastir, who was second to Russell in FP1 and FP3, was 0.089 seconds further back \u2014 though that added up to seventh on the grid in a super-tight battle with Red Bull Racing\u2019s Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.<\/p>\n
McLaren dominated last year\u2019s Barcelona race, with Piastri leading home Norris in one-two formation. It won it despite also winning in Monaco, a very different circuit.<\/p>\n
Norris said that it was time for the team to accept that its 2024\u201325 title-winning era was over.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s tough for us to realise we\u2019re not at the same level as what we were,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a car that is just good everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a car that is pretty good in Miami, pretty reasonable in Canada, not bad here but shocking in Monaco.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us to be 0.3s off here, I think it\u2019s just a good effort, considering we were 0.6s or 0.7s [off] last weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not a bad thing. No, we\u2019re happy. It\u2019s P4. The other guys did good laps, but we were definitely unable to achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lando Norris of Great Britain. Photo by Peter Fox\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Piastri lamented that a wobble in the final sector \u2014 exiting turn 10 as the circuit climbs near the end of the lap \u2014 cost him as many as four positions and a shot on the second row.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a good lap until the last sector,\u201d he said. \u201cUntil that point it was strong.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously very, very close margins out there \u2014 I could\u2019ve done with that little bit extra that I had.\u201d<\/p>\n
On paper there should be some optimism that Sunday could be better. The track was sizzling at 52\u00b0C in qualifying, with the ambient up to 31\u00b0C. It\u2019s forecast to be even hotter on race day.<\/p>\n
The weather is putting the tyres under stress at what is already an extremely demanding layout for the rubber \u2014 and Pirelli has brought softer tyres here this year compared to last season.<\/p>\n
If McLaren believes it has gentle tyre usage, that could pay big dividends in a race that could have three pit stops per driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to know,\u201d Piastri said. \u201cWe\u2019ve not really seen anyone in these kinds of conditions at a circuit like this with so much deg.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Mercedes are going to be very, very strong, and I think Ferrari as well probably will be too, but as for us, it\u2019s difficult to know at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
F1\u2019S SLOWEST TEAM IS GETTING SLOWER<\/p>\n
A remarkable streak was shattered in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
For the first time in 42 grands prix, dating back to the 2024 British Grand Prix, Lance Stroll has outqualified Fernando Alonso.<\/p>\n
Alonso whitewashed Stroll last year and looked on track to do the same again this season with what is still the biggest gap between teammates by qualifying time this year.<\/p>\n
But Stroll has averted what could have been an embarrassing second season of uninterrupted qualifying defeated by getting one over his veteran teammate by a slender 0.057.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d Stroll said. \u201cI don\u2019t give a s***.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was, after all, an exclusive battle to avoid qualifying last.<\/p>\n
Aston Martin isn\u2019t just at the back of the pack. It\u2019s slipping further and further adrift of the midfield.<\/p>\n
At a circuit typically considered a litmus test for aerodynamic performance, Aston Martin was a whopping 4.079 seconds off pole and a stunning 1.213 seconds behind newcomer Cadillac too in dire confirmation that the big-spending operation is stone cold last.<\/p>\n
Alonso, who signalled ahead of the weekend that this could be his last race in Barcelona as retirement talk intensifies, dismissed the notion that Aston Martin\u2019s plight was putting a crimp on his home event.<\/p>\n
George Russell of Great Britain. Photo by Clive Mason\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said. \u201cI came here knowing that we are the last, and we are last, so no surprises there.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing has been exposed. We knew that we had the worst car and the worst engine and we\u2019ve been very clear in every race so far that we have to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe repeat every weekend, and we will arrive in Austria in two weeks, we will be last in qualifying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aston Martin\u2019s decline is real. Charting a line of best fit through its qualifying performance, it\u2019s moving on average 0.102 seconds away from pole per race.<\/p>\n
But credit should also be paid to Cadillac here, the team many assumed would be comfortably slowest this season.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just benefiting from Aston\u2019s slide. From the first round to Barcelona, it\u2019s the second most improved team in the sport, gaining on the leaders at 0.146 seconds per weekend on average.<\/p>\n
That said, Alonso, whose last win was in Barcelona 13 years ago, insisted that he still believed in Aston Maritn\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe opted for this strategy,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the second part of the year arrives a new car on the aerodynamic side, arrives a new engine, and we have the hopes there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the weaknesses, we know that we have to work, and we are on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
PIASTRI \u2018MIND-BLOWN\u2019 BY GASLY CALL<\/p>\n
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was \u201cpretty mind-blown\u201d by the decision to overturn Pierre Gasly\u2019s penalty for pit-lane speeding in the Monaco Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the FIA announced that Pierre had his third-place finish in last weekend\u2019s race reinstated after stewards rescinded two penalties he received. The French driver crossed the finish line in third place but received two five-second penalties for speeding in the pit lane by 0.1 and 0.4 km\/h respectively and was ultimately classified seventh.<\/p>\n
However, his Alpine team contested these penalties and won their case due to an error with measuring the pit-lane speed limit.<\/p>\n
As a result, Piastri dropped from fourth to fifth in the Monaco classification, five days after the race.<\/p>\n
The Australian also likely would have finished ahead of Gasly had he not served his a penalty for pitlane speeding; in-race penalties can\u2019t be reversed.<\/p>\n
The outcome also cost Isack Hadjar his first podium finish for Red Bull.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren. Photo by Peter Fox\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty mind-blown by the decision,\u201d Piastri, who was also penalised for breaking the pit-lane speed limit, said of the decision on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause how you can reverse a decision that was ultimately wrong, but when other people have been penalised for the same thing and served a penalty in the race, how you can then change one penalty, knowing that probably five or six other races have been impacted by that, is astonishing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I mean, I\u2019ve obviously lost a position, but you can only imagine how George is feeling – so I could not believe my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cYes. I lost the position to Pierre because I served the penalty, so technically I should be P3 – but then, technically George should be P3, and the whole thing is now a mess.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite the predicament they\u2019ve got themselves into, and I don\u2019t know how you get yourself out of that one, because now the precedent as it is is, \u2018You don\u2019t serve the penalty, you take it to court, you wait probably a few months to decide the race,\u2019 and who the hell wants to go racing like that?<\/p>\n
\u201cPerplexed is the word I would use.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"George Russell is back in his groove. That\u2019s what the Briton says, anyway, after storming to a tightly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":735771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-735770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/735771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n