George Russell admitted that two poor laps in Q3 cost him a potential top-three starting position for the 2026 United States Grand Prix, leaving the Mercedes driver sixth on the grid while teammate Kimi Antonelli secured pole position. Despite the improvements delivered by the latest W17 upgrades, Russell struggled to find the right rhythm in the final part of qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas.
The result was particularly disappointing given the contrasting fortunes of the two Mercedes drivers. While Kimi Antonelli demonstrated the car’s potential by taking first place, George Russell was unable to reproduce his earlier qualifying performance when it mattered most. Although the British driver has made progress in adapting to the W17, inconsistency from circuit to circuit remains an occasional problem.
Nevertheless, Austin offers opportunities to recover positions, particularly for drivers with competitive race pace. Victory looks difficult from sixth on the grid, but a podium could still be a realistic target if George Russell can make progress through the field.
George Russell praises Mercedes upgrades despite Q3 disappointment
George Russell began by discussing the improvements Mercedes had introduced for the United States Grand Prix weekend, having used the previous specification of the car in Singapore.
“We made some good improvements to the car this weekend, putting it into a good performance window. The upgrades have been really positive, and my qualifying session was going well until Q3.”
However, the final qualifying segment did not unfold as George Russell had expected. Although he did not believe pole position was within reach, he felt he had enough performance to challenge for a place on the first three rows of the timing screens.
“I don’t think I could have fought for pole position, but I definitely think a place in the top three was within my reach. I was slower in Q3 than in Q2, and that says a lot. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. I think, from my point of view, it was simply two poor laps in Q3. That’s really all there is to it.”
Low-speed corners and Turn 12 mistake hurt George Russell
Explaining where his qualifying performance had slipped away, George Russell identified the slower sections of the Texas circuit as his main difficulty. While the Mercedes driver felt comfortable through the opening sector, he could not maintain the same rhythm over the remainder of the lap.
“I felt very good in Sector 1. But then I struggled at low speed and couldn’t find the right rhythm in Q3. Just one slide at Turn 12, and then it was a disaster. I lost everything in Sector 3, and yes, that was it.”
Track conditions also complicated the session. While Kimi Antonelli had highlighted the wind as one of the main difficulties towards the end of qualifying, George Russell instead emphasised the changing cloud cover and its effect on tyre temperatures.
“The cloud cover had a significant impact. The sun came out at the end, but unfortunately my first lap wasn’t good enough. The track temperature rises by a couple of degrees for everyone, and when you get to Sector 3, that makes an enormous difference to the tyres and their temperature windows.”
The combination of a small mistake, changing conditions and difficulties managing the car through the slower corners ultimately prevented George Russell from improving enough to join the leading three drivers.
George Russell surprised by Ferrari’s Austin qualifying result
George Russell also turned his attention to Ferrari, which had looked particularly competitive throughout the United States Grand Prix weekend but failed to reproduce the same potential during the final qualifying session.
The Italian team had shown encouraging performance in practice, including Charles Leclerc’s benchmark in Austin FP2. However, its qualifying result left questions over whether that earlier pace would translate into similarly strong race performance.
“I don’t think anyone expected Ferrari not to be in the top three. They looked like the dominant team throughout the weekend, so it will be interesting to see how that translates into race pace.”
Ferrari’s apparent drop-off in Q3 therefore represents another important variable ahead of the Grand Prix. Although the team had demonstrated considerable speed earlier in the weekend, George Russell remains interested in how its performance will compare with Mercedes and the other leading contenders over a full race distance.
George Russell targets recovery through strategy and race pace
Starting from the third row means George Russell will have to recover positions if he is to challenge for a podium. The Mercedes driver believes strategy could be decisive, particularly at a circuit where incidents and changing circumstances can influence the outcome.
“Tomorrow we have a long race ahead of us in which strategy will play a fundamental role. Incidents usually happen here that change the course of the Grand Prix, so we will try to take every opportunity to recover ground. Our pace on Friday was relatively good, which is encouraging. We will give it everything to score some good points.”
Although sixth place was not the qualifying result George Russell had hoped for, his confidence in Mercedes’ improved performance offers some encouragement ahead of the race. With Kimi Antonelli starting from pole position and Ferrari’s race pace still an important question, the British driver will be looking to turn his Friday performance into a recovery drive at Austin.
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