George Russell secured second place in qualifying for the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix, narrowly missing out on pole position to Lewis Hamilton after finding a remarkable half a second during his decisive Q3 lap. The Mercedes driver admitted that his confidence had gradually improved throughout the session, allowing him to produce a result that had appeared unlikely earlier in the weekend.
It was an important recovery for George Russell, who had endured several difficult races and struggled to establish a comfortable feeling with his car in Mexico. Despite those problems, the Briton produced a competitive final qualifying performance to secure a front-row start alongside his former Mercedes team-mate.
George Russell almost beats Lewis Hamilton to Mexico GP pole position
Speaking after qualifying, George Russell expressed satisfaction with his result and acknowledged how close he had come to taking pole position from Lewis Hamilton.
“I’m happy. It was a difficult weekend until the lap in Q3, when I found half a second and almost took pole. Congratulations to Lewis, we came very close,” the Mercedes driver explained.
The improvement was particularly significant given the difficulties George Russell had experienced with his car. His qualifying performance also provided a positive response to his recent struggles, which had previously prompted Toto Wolff to address the challenges facing George Russell compared with Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Mercedes confidence problems continue despite qualifying breakthrough
Although George Russell had struggled to extract consistent performance from his Mercedes, he insisted that he had never questioned his own ability. Instead, he identified a lack of confidence in the car as the main source of his frustration.
“I’ve always known I had this performance in me. This car, however, gives me very little confidence, and that’s what creates the frustration,” he admitted.
Those concerns follow a difficult period for the British driver, including his struggles during the United States Grand Prix at Austin, where Andrea Kimi Antonelli had enjoyed a much stronger race.
Falling track temperatures help George Russell unlock Q3 pace
According to George Russell, the decisive factors behind his improvement were the changing track conditions and an effective preparation lap before his final qualifying attempt. As the sun began to set and temperatures dropped, the Mercedes driver was able to find the tyre grip and confidence he had been missing earlier in the session.
“As Charles said, there’s very little grip, and towards the end the temperature dropped, which helped us. The sun went down, I did a good preparation lap, and that gave me more confidence to find grip with the tyres. It helped me extract that lap time,” he explained, referring to comments made by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
The improved conditions allowed George Russell to make the most of his final opportunity, transforming a challenging qualifying session into a front-row result. The half-second improvement brought him close to Lewis Hamilton, even if it ultimately proved insufficient to claim pole position.
George Russell will therefore start the Mexico City Grand Prix from second place, immediately behind Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver now has an opportunity to fight for a strong result in Sunday’s race while keeping his world championship challenge against team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli alive.
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