Russell reveals what held him back in Silverstone qualifying: 'We thought we found the problem this morning'

The home hero survived a big scare in Q1 after losing control of the car and making light contact with the wall with his front wing at Turn 6. He managed to escape the gravel and return to the pits before completing the rest of qualifying without any major issues. The gap to the Italian was relatively small after the opening runs in Q3, but Antonelli pulled away on his final attempt, finishing almost four tenths clear.

Speaking to GPBlog after qualifying, Russell explained that he had been losing a significant amount of time on the straights throughout the entire weekend. He pointed out that the deficit had already been evident in Q3 on Friday and remained present during Saturday's qualifying, with the speed trap figures showing he was consistently slower than both his team-mate and McLaren.

Russell revealed that the team had been working hard to understand the cause of the issue, initially believing they had identified the problem on Saturday morning after suspecting the brakes were locking. However, he admitted they were no longer convinced that was the root of the problem, adding that heading into qualifying knowing he was already at a disadvantage only made the challenge even more difficult.

Speaking further, Russell insisted there was nothing unusual about the car's energy deployment, believing the real issue lay in its straight-line speed. He said the data from both Friday's qualifying and Saturday's speed traps pointed to the same deficit, making him feel as though he was running a higher-drag configuration than those around him. While he admitted pole position was probably out of reach regardless, Russell felt he would have been much closer to the front and in the fight for the top positions without the issue.