George Russell takes an excellent third place in qualifying for the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP, confirming his consistency. Andrea Kimi Antonelli impresses again with a fifth-place finish. Mercedes proves competitive, but the gap with McLaren and Red Bull remains.
The season start for the Brackley team has been decidedly positive. After just four races, George Russell has already claimed two podiums—three, if we count the one in China that was later revoked due to a penalty that demoted him to fourth place. The performances of rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli have also been good; although he has yet to step on the podium, he has shown great maturity and determination from the very first outings.
In Saudi Arabia as well, Mercedes—especially with George Russell—showed encouraging signs. In FP3, the British driver wanted to send a clear message to the two McLarens: “I’m here.” Russell ended the session in an excellent third place, though six tenths off the two Papaya cars. Antonelli, on the other hand, finished in tenth, still showing steady progress.
In the first run of Q1, the performances of the two Mercedes drivers were in line with what was seen in free practice: Russell placed fourth, Antonelli ninth. At the end of the session, both advanced comfortably to Q2: Antonelli with an excellent fourth time, and Russell in seventh.
In Q2, both went out on used tyres. Antonelli completed his lap before his teammate, placing fifth; Russell did even better, finishing fourth. Q3 began with a different tyre choice: used tyres for Kimi Antonelli, new ones for Russell. The latter radioed in with some suspicion of possible floor damage, asking for a check in the pits. Shortly after, Lando Norris hit the wall, causing the session to be interrupted with a red flag.
At the restart, Russell put together an excellent lap, temporarily taking pole position. However, his time was beaten first by Oscar Piastri, then by Max Verstappen, who secured the definitive pole.
Russell still finished with an excellent third place, once again confirming his solidity and consistency. Very positive also was Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s performance, placing his car in fifth and proving he’s not far from the level of his more experienced teammate.
GP Saudi Arabia 2025 – George Russell: “We don’t have McLaren’s pace”
At the end of qualifying, George Russell analyzed what happened with a hint of regret:
“Honestly, before the session I might have signed off on a third place, but seeing how close we got increases the regret. Anyway, I’m happy with what we did, we finished close behind a phenomenal Max Verstappen.”
The Briton pointed out that while Mercedes is showing potential, they still can’t match McLaren, whose pace is on another level on high-speed tracks:
“On similar high-speed circuits, we know we don’t have McLaren’s pace. Max Verstappen is always incredible—there’s not much to say. The session? Honestly, it was complicated due to Lando Norris’s red flag. We knew we only had one lap available, but in any case, I’m happy with what we did.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: “I’m disappointed in myself”
Despite the Italian driver finishing in an excellent fifth place, he wasn’t too enthusiastic about his result:
“I made a big mistake in the first sector during the final lap, losing about three or four tenths. Definitely my fault, I’ll have to analyze what went wrong. I felt good in the car and the confidence was building, and that’s exactly why it’s a shame. But tomorrow we’ll try to have a good race. I’m a bit disappointed.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, Antonelli remains confident, but without making predictions:
“For tomorrow, confidence will be fundamental, no doubt. But I won’t make predictions—last time I did, it didn’t go the way I hoped. We’ll do our prep tonight and see how it goes. But yes, I’ll definitely keep an eye on that Ferrari ahead.”
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