Russell bewildered by Ferrari pace after disappointing British GP Sprint Qualifying
Photo: Race Pictures
18:57, 03 Jul
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Henry Eccles is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs, and features across the F1 calendar. Since joining in 2026, he has produced high-volume reporting on the sport’s biggest stories, alongside feature pieces including analysis and historical content.
George Russell has said Ferrari's pace around Silverstone "isn't quite making sense" after Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton took Sprint Pole at the British GP. Russell himself finished a disappointing P5, while his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli was 0.011s off Hamilton in P2.
Reflecting on his own performance, Russell told F1 TV he found his lack of pace to Antonelli and Hamilton to be "quite strange." Russell said: "It's kind of a story of a year to be honest always. On the back foot, usually from Q3 you can generally make a step today.
"Not quite the case, it was very close to P3 but still very much off the pace of Lewis and Kimi. So we need to try and understand why that is, it's a bit strange."
The Briton was then asked if he knew he wasn't quite in tune with the car after FP1, where he finished P4. Russell, however, maintained he was feeling better than expected in the Mercedes - making his P5 finish at Sprint Qualifying all the more puzzling.
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Russell responded: "Yeah, I think it's feeling quite good out there, to be honest. It's not feeling too bad, I think. I think we were all expecting it to feel a bit worse."
"Just in terms of driving these cars here, it actually felt quite okay and the high speed felt fast. But as I said, the relative lap time is not really there, so you need to understand tomorrow is the more important thing."
Ferrari pace 'not making sense,' says Russell
Photo: Race Pictures
Attention then specifically turned to Ferrari following Hamilton's surprise Sprint Pole. The Scuderia were not quite expected to be as competitive given the high-speed nature of Silverstone and the Italian team's weakness on the straights.
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Russell said he expected better from Ferrari last week in Austria, where they finished P5 and P8, adding things are "not quite making sense" now that the Scuderia seem on top at Silverstone so far this weekend.
He said: "Very surprised, very surprised. They've been on the back foot with the PU and energy management and here they look the best at the moment.
"So that's been a real surprise. We've always known they've had a great chassis. But yeah, I think some things aren't quite making sense.
"If I were to have predicted, I'd have said Ferrari quick last week and us to be quick this week. Obviously Kimi did a great job but still, Ferrari have handled it."
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British Grand Prix
Overview
Friday 03.07.26
Practice 1
11:30 AM
Sprint Qualification
03:30 PM
Saturday 04.07.26
Sprint Race
11:00 AM
Qualification
03:00 PM
Sunday 05.07.26
Race
02:00 PM
Friday 03.07.26
Practice 1
Fri 11:30 AM
Sprint Qualification
Fri 03:30 PM
Saturday 04.07.26
Sprint Race
Sat 11:00 AM
Qualification
Sat 03:00 PM
Sunday 05.07.26
Race
Sun 02:00 PM
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Points |
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1 | MercedesMER | 171 | |
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