Russell reveals the ‘only silver lining’ he is taking for Spanish Grand Prix after ‘very bad’ run of races

Following a brief series of underwhelming results, George Russell returned to the top five in Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, but made no secret of his discontent surrounding Mercedes’ recent performances.

The Briton’s impressive streak of finishing every race in P5 or higher came to an end when he dropped back to seventh in Imola, and it was ruined for good when a mechanical problem knocked him out in Q2 in Monaco, leaving him unable to improve to the points.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the Qualifying action as Piastri snatches pole position from Norris in Spain

Mercedes have frequently challenged the main frontrunners – with P2 in the Teams’ Standings testament to that – throughout the season, but the current triple header has so far seen them claim just six points as they struggled to extract performance from the softer compound tyres.

The squad appeared to turn a corner in Spain as Russell qualified in P4, with Kimi Antonelli securing a spot on the row behind in P6 as they try to bounce back from the last two disappointing weekends, and the Briton signalled that Pirelli’s choice of their hardest tyres could be key in Barcelona.

P4 ‘not a bad place to start in Barcelona’ – Russell

“It was very close with Max and Lando – definitely not in the fight for pole but other than Monaco, we’ve been in the top five at every single Qualifying, so we know that is where the car is on a Saturday,” Russell said following Saturday’s Qualifying session in Barcelona. “Our goal at the moment is to try and improve the race pace.

“We’ve made some pretty drastic changes to the set-up this weekend so that’s positive to see it hasn’t hindered the Qualifying pace – whether it’s going to improve the race pace is another story.

“I started P4 last year, so it’s not a bad place to start here in Barcelona. In recent races we’ve been very bad in the race but in Bahrain, which was a similar sort of circumstance – the C1, C2, C3 tyre, two-stop strategy – we finished second. The races recently with a two-stop but the C4, C5, C6, we’ve been very bad. That’s the only silver lining I’m taking.”

Antonelli has also fallen behind in recent races, failing to score points as he retired from his home race in Italy and crashed out of Qualifying in Monaco, eventually crossing the line as the final finisher.

Marco Antonelli and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the garage during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on May 31, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Clive Rose - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images) — This marks Antonelli’s best Qualifying since the Miami Grand Prix

His sixth-place effort in Spain came after a radio message in which Russell offered to give him a tow, which was later followed by the Briton requesting that the favour be returned as at the time, he was only two-tenths away from Lando Norris’ provisional pole position time.

The Italian 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.”