Russell ‘back in my groove’ after Barcelona pole

George Russell feels like his “old self again” after charging to pole position for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Despite this being Russell’s second pole in three races, the Briton has been comprehensively beaten by title-leading teammate Kimi Antonelli for months. The Italian has won five grands prix in a row to open a 68-point lead and leave Russell languishing for form.

Though misfortune has played a role, Russell admitted for the first time in Monaco that he was uncomfortable in the new Mercedes and had been unable to find the sweet spot that propelled him to victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in March.

However, the pre-season championship favorite worked hard to turn the page on his early-season struggles on his way to Barcelona, and his new approach has been rewarded with his third pole of the season and 10th of his career.

“I’ve got to be honest, I’m really happy to be back in my groove,” he said. “It’s been a difficult few races for me; obviously bad luck, there have been a some poor performance in there, but I went back to an approach that I knew works for me this weekend. And, more important than the pole position for me was just seeing that every lap of the whole weekend I was in the top two positions and I felt confident, I felt good.

“I just felt like my old self again. Regardless of what happened in Q3 – Lewis [Hamilton] did a really amazing job and also could have got the pole position as well – that was more important for me this weekend.”

Though Antonelli has challenged Russell for the entire season, the Briton’s form notably dipped in Miami, where he was comprehensively beaten in much the same way he was bested in Monaco last weekend. He has previously written off what looked like an improvement in Canada between them as circumstantial.

Asked to explain what he had changed ahead of Barcelona to restore his competitiveness, he alluded to having chased Antonelli on setup for several rounds before clearing the slate after Monaco.

“Car set-up, mentality – just going back to basics, really,” he said. “It’s challenging to get on top of things, especially when I’ve got a guy like [Antonelli] next to me who’s been performing so well.

“You’re trying to constantly improve, and I think that doing some copy-pasting probably really put me on the back foot. As I said, this weekend I’ve just gone in my own direction, and that’s what I’ve done in the past for the last few years, and I’m really glad to see it paying off.

“It just feels back to what I felt at the start of the year – winter testing … Melbourne, China, I felt really comfortable in the car, really happy.

“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 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.”