George Russell reveals 'wrong decisions' acceptance as strong feeling returns

George Russell has revealed that he has accepted that "wrong decisions" were made with his engineers over the last few races after claiming pole position for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Russell secured pole for the seventh round of the season by just 0.064s over Lewis Hamilton, marking only the third time this year that he will start from the front of the grid.

For the first time in several rounds, the Briton was comfortably quicker than championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who had to settle for third on the grid, three tenths adrift.

The flowing nature of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has seen Russell's confidence in Mercedes' W17 return following several rounds at stop-start circuits.

Russell has held an advantage over Antonelli all season at tracks that do not feature heavy braking and sharp acceleration, with Barcelona being the first such circuit since Suzuka.

The King's Lynn-born driver has not claimed a podium since the second round in China and remains on just one victory in 2026.

Starting from pole in Barcelona represents Russell's best opportunity to begin eating into Antonelli's 66-point advantage, with the Briton finally feeling back to his usual self and the car operating in a strong window.

Asked if it is the best he has felt in the car all year, Russell replied: "It just feels back to what I felt at the start of the year during winter testing, you know, Barcelona here, Bahrain testing, Melbourne, China. 

"I felt really comfortable in the car, really happy. And, you know, Miami was just the first weekend where everything felt pretty challenging, and that’s where I think, I can accept, and with my direct group of engineers we can accept, we probably made some wrong decisions in these last three races. 

"As I said, more than anything, more than this pole position, I’m just glad to feel myself again, feel at one with the car again, as I have done for the last few years."