Russell aims playful jibe at Antonelli: ‘He should be leading by a few laps early this time’

The British driver finds himself with a valuable opportunity to close the gap to his team-mate in the championship, after Antonelli lost much of FP1 due to a hydraulic failure before crashing in Q1 during qualifying. The incident brought his session to an early end and leaves him starting from 16th on the grid.

By contrast, Russell produced his strongest qualifying performance of the season, securing pole with the biggest gap between first and second place, as he put a full eight-tenths of a second between himself and Charles Leclerc. The advantage was also helped by the Mercedes power unit’s impressive performance, which was particularly evident on the long straight in the final sector.

Asked whether Mercedes can expect to enjoy a similarly huge advantage in the race, Russell was more cautious about the gap seen in qualifying. He pointed to Verstappen as the main threat based on Friday's pace, while suggesting the Red Bull driver may have been denied the chance to improve after being caught by a yellow flag caused by Lando Norris.

He also highlighted McLaren's pace at the start of Q3, when the two cars briefly occupied the top two positions, as another indication that the race could be a very different story.

“No, for sure, for sure not as big as today. I think, looking back on yesterday’s practice, I think Verstappen was the biggest threat. I think he probably got a bit blocked, I think, by Lando with the yellow flag at the end, so didn’t have that chance to improve. I think we really don’t know. McLaren also threw out a big surprise at the beginning of Q3. They were one and two, and that was a surprise. But I feel Verstappen is going to be a threat.”

The Mercedes driver also jokingly brought Kimi Antonelli into the equation, pointing out that the Italian has already improved from 19th on the grid at Monza to 16th in Baku. Russell therefore suggested, with a hint of irony, that his team-mate should have an easier time making his way through the field this time around.