George Russell helpless and angry over Kimi Antonelli humiliation | F1 | Sport

George Russell declared himself frustrated and helpless after teenage team-mate Kimi Antonelli blew him away in qualifying again. The 19-year-old outclassed the competition with a pole lap three-tenths quicker than nearest challenger Max Verstappen, who was being towed by his team-mate.

The gap to Lando Norris, third on the timesheet, was 0.440 seconds and the McLaren man needed “one of the best laps I’ve ever done ” to get even that close. Russell was fourth quickest but over half-a-second down and bemoaned the mystery problem plaguing his Mercedes car.

“I thought it was my driving style,” the Brit said. “That’s what we thought, coming out of Silverstone. We thought it was on the drivers’ side, on technique. But we’ve finally proved that it’s not. We’ve changed everything and I was four tenths [down] on the straights in Q3. It’s frustrating.

“Every single lap this weekend I’ve come in and seen myself anywhere from two tenths to four tenths down. In FP2 yesterday it was seven tenths. The team is working so hard to understand what it is. We saw it as early as Austria, actually, we saw signs. But we always thought there was a reason. Sprint qualifying at Silverstone, we saw three-and-a-half tenths’ loss, we thought we found the problem.

“We keep going through this process of, ‘We think it’s this’, we change it, ‘Oh it’s not this, maybe it’s this’. I thought it was the driving style. I came into this weekend and I said on Thursday, ‘I think it’s the driving style’. But I changed the driving style, and it’s not. The team is working super hard to understand what it is.”

Despite his issues, Russell has closed to within 25 points of Antonelli, helped by reliability issues hurting the teenager. And he know he’ll need more luck today to avoid being left in his team-mate’s dust. Russell conceded: “Anything can happen but, the truth is, battling against my team-mate who is such an incredible driver and is doing such a great job at the moment, at the best of times is a tall order.

“I feel confident that, in the head-to-head, I can achieve it. But when it feels like you’re battling with one hand behind your back, it’s a challenge. We had the issue in Silverstone and ended up in P2 on the podium, so I’ll endure the pain, hope for a great result and try to find a solution before next week.”

Championship leader Antonelli was buoyant after a sixth pole position of the season. “[It] was a nice lap, very clean, so I’m very happy,” the Italian smiled. “Of course, tomorrow is another day. I have Max starting next to me so it’s going to be important to get a good start.”

Not that Verstappen thinks he can threaten Antonelli too much. He was best of the rest yesterday mostly thanks to a tow down the long Spa straights by team-mate Isack Hadjar, who is starting at the back because of grid penalties. “It was also the difference between P2 and P6, because we’re unfortunately a bit slow on the straights,” Verstappen admitted.

But instead of looking to slip past Antonelli, the Dutchman will be more focused on his mirrors. “[Antonelli] will just pass me on the straights,” he shrugged.

Norris will start 13th today because of a grid penalty triggered by using engine parts beyond his annual allowance. He said: “It was probably one of the best laps I’ve ever done in qualifying, so yeah, very happy to be P3. It’s a shame it doesn’t matter for tomorrow because I’m starting P13 now. For the package that we have, to be P3 is pretty amazing. So I’m happy, very pleased.”