George Russell Beats Lewis Hamilton to Pole at Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix

George Russell took pole position for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix after recovering from a run of disappointing results, beating Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton by 0.064 seconds in qualifying. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start third after taking the other Mercedes to the second row.

McLaren’s Lando Norris qualified fourth, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar. Hamilton’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc crashed on his first lap in the final qualifying session and will start 10th, while Oscar Piastri was seventh for McLaren, followed by Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg.

Russell said it was “nice to feel the groove again” after failing to score in the previous two grands prix. He had fallen 68 points behind Antonelli after a difficult Monaco race that included a penalty for speeding in the pit lane, but he was consistently quick throughout the Spanish weekend. Hamilton came close to denying him pole, as Ferrari’s upgrades for this race appeared to deliver a major gain in performance. It was Hamilton’s first grand prix front-row start since the 2024 British Grand Prix.

Russell said he entered qualifying with a clean slate and was satisfied to get the job done after recent setbacks. He added that the race would be closely fought, noting Hamilton’s strong pace and expecting the battle to involve Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.

Hamilton said he had been on the back foot earlier in the weekend after missing first practice so development driver Dino Beganovic could run. He said he was still 0.4 to 0.5 seconds off the pace in final practice, but improved rapidly in qualifying. Hamilton described Q1 as a turnaround moment after leaving the track between final practice and the opening qualifying segment to reset.

Despite narrowly missing pole, Hamilton said Ferrari were in a strong position for Sunday’s race and praised Russell’s lap. Antonelli, meanwhile, said the weekend had been difficult and that he had not felt comfortable in the car.