George Russell left with Spanish GP concern despite Mercedes return to form

George Russell matched Max Verstappen’s time in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying and Kimi Antonelli also returned to form after difficult weekends for Mercedes in Imola and Monaco

George Russell was left worried about whether Mercedes have actually improved their race pace after a return to qualifying form. The Brit will start the Spanish Grand Prix fourth on the grid and was unlucky not to be one place higher.

He set the exact same time as Max Verstappen but, because the Red Bull racer got his lap in first, Russell was classified one place below. They will share the second row behind the two McLaren cars of pole-sitter Oscar Piastri and his drivers’ title rival Lando Norris.

It was a welcome return to form in the final qualifying session of this European triple header of races that have been tough for Mercedes. Russell slipped from third to seventh at Imola while both he and team-mate Kimi Antonelli finished pointless in Monaco.

But it remains to be seen whether the Silver Arrows will have the race pace to compete in Barcelona. They have been working hard to improve that aspect of their car but Russell worries his strong qualifying performance may indicate that his car is still geared too much towards one-lap pace.

Sign up to our free weekly F1 newsletter, Pit Lane Chronicle, by entering your email address below so that every new edition lands straight in your inbox!

He said: “We know that on a Saturday our car is anywhere between P2 and P5. That’s where it’s been all season and again today. It’s good we managed to get into Q3 on only two sets of tyres so we have a new soft tyre for tomorrow which is a valid race tyre – that’s a positive. We know that the car isn’t quick on Sundays.

“We also made a lot of changes to the car this weekend to try to improve the race pace, so to see that we haven’t really hindered qualifying pace is a positive – but then also it may mean it’s not going to improve the race pace.

READ MORE: Lando Norris offers unusual verdict after latest costly mistake in Oscar Piastri title battleREAD MORE: Lewis Hamilton responds to surprise result and eyes historic Ferrari first at Spanish GP

Mercedes have struggled in high temperatures and the track is set to be blistering hot in the Spanish sun on Sunday. “Tomorrow’s going to be an interesting one for us,” Russell added. “We struggled a lot when it was the soft compound of tyres when it was hot but when it was the hard compound of tyres in Bahrain and it was hot we finished second there.”

After back-to-back failures to reach Q3 in Imola and Monaco, Antonelli seemed a relieved man to put his car further up the grid for the Spain race. The 18-year-old split the two Ferrari cars in sixth, despite being at a tyre disadvantage.

He said: “I struggled a little bit to get into a rhythm at the start of the session, and it put me in a position where I only had one new set for Q3 which was not really ideal, because the difference from used to new [tyres] was quite big. Overall, I think I’m decently happy with the performance.

“There was a bit of time here and there, but tomorrow is going to be a lot about race pace. We’re going to race at the hottest time of the day so degradation is going to be something to look at. It’s not going to be easy but, overall, we’ve been doing a lot of long runs so we have quite decent data. We’re also aware that the others are very fast, so let’s see. I’m ready to do my best.”