George Russell baffled after Kimi Antonelli 'destroyed' him in Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying

Antonelli took pole at Spa-Francorchamps, while Russell finished fourth and half a second behind the Italian. Lando Norris’ grid penalty promotes Russell to third for Sunday’s race.

That promotion offered little comfort after another unexplained performance deficit. Russell had already fallen around half a second behind Antonelli during Q2, before the same pattern returned in Q3. The Briton had no explanation for why the two Mercedes cars were performing so differently. 

In motorsport terms, Russell was destroyed by his teammate on Saturday. Antonelli secured pole by three tenths from Max Verstappen, despite the Red Bull driver receiving a tow from Isack Hadjar. Russell, meanwhile, remained nowhere near the sister Mercedes. 

Russell revealed Mercedes initially suspected his driving technique was causing the deficit, particularly through the energy-harvesting sections of the lap. However, changing his approach at Spa failed to close the gap.

Asked by reporters whether Antonelli was making the difference through his technique, Russell said: “That’s what we thought coming out of Silverstone. We thought it was in the driving style and technique, but we have finally concluded it’s not."

The Briton continued: “We have changed everything. There were four tenths on the straights in Q3. It’s frustrating. Every single lap I’ve come in this weekend and seen anywhere from two tenths to four tenths to five. In FP2, it was seven tenths.

“The team are working so hard to understand what it is. We saw signs as early as Austria, actually, but we always thought there was a reason. In Sprint Qualifying at Silverstone, we saw a three-and-a-half-tenths loss and thought we had found the problem.

“So we keep going through this process of, ‘Oh, we think it’s this.’ We change it. ‘Oh, it’s not this, maybe it’s the driving style.’

“I thought it was the driving style. Honestly, I came into this weekend and said on Thursday, ‘I think it’s the driving style.’ I changed the driving style and it’s not the driving style. The team are working super hard to understand what it is.”

Russell remains confident he can challenge Antonelli when both cars are operating normally. However, he admitted the current problem makes an already difficult task significantly harder against a teammate delivering at an exceptional level."

Asked whether he could still fight for victory from third, Russell responded: “For sure. Anything can happen, but the truth is battling against my teammate, who is such an incredible driver and doing such a great job at the moment, in the best of times is a tall order."

Russell added: "I feel confident head-to-head I can achieve it. But when it feels like you are battling with one hand behind your back, it’s a challenge. We had the issue in Silverstone and ended up P2 on the podium, so I pray.

“I’m going to try and endure the pain of this issue tomorrow, hope for a great result and try to find a solution for next week in Hungary.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed the team had identified losses both through the corners and on Spa’s long straights. However, its investigation had still not produced a definitive explanation after Qualifying.

Wolff said: “With George, we need to find out the issues. There are some losses in the corners, but there are also quite some losses on the straights, and we have been trying to find out what that is and couldn’t up until now. So the main topic is going to be to have two cars that are able to drive in front.”

Russell therefore starts the Belgian Grand Prix from P2, directly behind Antonelli and Verstappen. A podium remains possible, even victory, but Mercedes must solve why one of its cars looks capable of dominating while the other appears compromised. Or the driver has lost the plot.