'Shocked' Russell credits thumping pole to growing confidence

George Russell was “shocked” to have beaten his rivals by so much in the fight for pole position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but says it reflects a growing confidence in his Mercedes car.

Russell annihilated the field in Baku qualifying with a 0.837s margin, by far the largest of the season and the biggest since Max Verstappen’s 1.244s pole margin during the wet qualifying session at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix.

Though he was aided by teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashing out of Q1, Russell has been the form driver of the weekend, topping two of the three practice sessions and all three qualifying segments on the way to pole position, including with the three fastest sectors.

Despite his near total control of the weekend, Russell said the scale of the result still surprised him.

“I felt very confident we were in the running for pole, but when I crossed the line and I saw the gap, I was shocked,” he said.

“I knew the lap was great. I had a nice slipstream at the end, which gave me an extra probably tenth and a half, two tenths, and it just all perfectly came together.

“I’ve been feeling in a great spot this whole weekend. From FP1 I felt confident, I felt hooked up. As I’ve said recently, I’m just getting more and more on top of this car and what it requires, and it’s just all feeling more intuitive.”

Russell has been in better form since the midseason break, having outpaced Antonelli 3-1 and having qualified off the front row of the grid only once. He hasn’t previously been on pole since June’s Austrian Grand Prix.

“Me and my team have put so much work in to help me get on top of the limitations, and I think since the summer break it’s been great,” he said. “The performance has been substantially better than the results have shown.

“It’s three front-row starts in the four races since the break. I’m very pleased with it.”

Though Russell wouldn’t describe the result as a breakthrough, Mercedes deputy principal Bradley Lord said the Englishman has been operating on a different level this weekend.

“I think there’s a bit of Mercedes in there and a whole lot of George Russell, to be honest,” he told SiriusXM. “He did an incredible job in qualifying.

“I think he’s in the mindset of: take it weekend by weekend, don’t think big picture, just think about what race is in front of you.

“He’s been serene this weekend. Every lap’s been right up there. He’s been competitive, setting the pace, and he put it all together in qualifying. Just a really composed performance, impressively fast.”

Russell refused to buy into the idea that momentum is shifting in his favor, though he did say he felt on the cusp of a virtuous confidence circle.

“I still keep on believing and keep on fighting until it isn’t possible anymore, but I don’t feel any pressure,” he said. “I feel excitement every time I jump in the car now, purely because I feel more confident in myself.

“When that confidence starts to build, it’s just like this upward cycle.

“On the flip side, when you’re on the back foot, you start losing that confidence and then you start pushing the limits more, and that’s when mistakes happen.

“But he’s been flawless this season. It’s the first mistake he’s made in a qualifying or race this whole year. Let’s see tomorrow.”