George Russell reflected on the moment it was «game over» in Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying, as the Mercedes driver was forced out of Q2 following a loss of power – moments after his team mate Kimi Antonelli had crashed out at the end of Q1.
The Silver Arrows pair had struggled to keep pace with their rivals across the opening three practice sessions, more often than not finding themselves towards the tail end of the top 10 while McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari competed at the top.
But Russell reported strong improvements in the car as they entered Qualifying, which is one of the most challenging yet thrilling sessions of the season due to the narrow nature of the circuit and the high levels of traffic.
The Briton seemed to be on course for another Q3 appearance before it all came unstuck, as he quickly lost power and came to a halt in the tunnel – after a failed attempt to restart the car, he was pushed off the track and resigned to start the race from P14.
2025 Monaco GP Qualifying: Red flags flying as Russell breaks down in the tunnel
“It felt like we were back in the groove,” the Briton said after the session. “Q1, everything came easily. I was feeling great in the car and suddenly, for the first time this weekend, it came alive.
“At the beginning of Q2, even though I did one corner, the car felt really good and I thought we could fight for the top four positions like we’ve done all season. Coming up the hill, the car hit the ground, hit a small bump and it all turned off. That was game over.
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“It’s not good news [for tomorrow]. It’s difficult to find any positives right now. I’m disappointed because Qualifying here is the most exciting Qualifying of the year. I didn’t get the chance to do that.
“The team have done so much hard work from Practice to now, and it was working. I could tell from lap one in Q1 that we’re back in the game here. It all went out the window.”
2025 Monaco GP Qualifying: Antonelli clips the barriers and ends Q1 in the wall
His rookie team mate experienced similar heartbreak and is due to start from P15 after he brought out the red flags in the final minutes of Q1 – Antonelli having already made the Q2 cut before his crash.
Heading into the Nouvelle Chicane, the Italian rookie clipped the barrier and suffered damage to the car, which then saw him fail to make the corner and he instead drove straight on into the wall, rendering him unable to compete in the rest of Qualifying.
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He said: “It was a very unnecessary and costly mistake, and obviously a shame to finish off like this. I feel very sorry towards the team and definitely today is all on me.
“I was trying to get at ease with the car and trying to progress through the session. I think we’ve definitely been struggling this weekend a bit more than others, but the mistake is on me, it’s not about the car.”
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