A win for Kimi Antonelli and a finish of ninth or lower for teammate George Russell at the 2026 United States Grand Prix would settle the Drivers’ Championship in favor of the Italian, and Russell’s challenging qualifying session will only make things more difficult for the Briton to keep his title hopes alive.
Russell will start from sixth on the grid, and he’s been left lamenting the way he suffered a “snowball” of misfortune during his final lap in Q3.
George Russell explains pace loss during qualifying in Austin
Mercedes driver George Russell would have needed a win in Austin to keep his title fight alive, but a difficult qualifying session will make it all the more challenging for him to bring the fight to his teammate, who will be starting from pole.
Changing track conditions plagued all of the drivers who made it to the third segment of qualifying, but things seemed all the more difficult for Russell. His fastest lap in Q2, at 1:34.305, was quicker than his subsequent 1:34.476 lap in Q3.
Speaking to F1TV after the conclusion of the session, Russell remained realistic about his expectations but still felt he could have done better.
“I don’t think I could have fought for pole, but I think top three was definitely on the cards for me,” Russell said. “I went slower in Q3 than I did in Q2, so that says enough.”
Asked where he managed to lose his pace, Russell didn’t have a particular answer: “I’m not too sure to be honest. I think from my side, it’s two bad laps in Q3. As simple as that, really.
“It was feeling very good at Sector 1, feeling good, but then in low speed I was struggling, and yeah, just didn’t get it together in Q3.
“Just one slide around Turn 12, and then it was just a snowball. Lost it all in Sector 3, and yeah, simple as that.”
Cloud cover brings chaos in US Grand Prix qualifying
With qualifying taking place over the course of an hour during an autumnal Texas afternoon, conditions transformed in each segment, which made it challenging to predict what would happen next.
“The cloud cover was having quite an impact as well,” Russell explained. “So I don’t think anybody improved on that last lap. The sun came out but, unfortunately, my first lap was not good enough.
Clouds swept in for part of the session, accompanied by an increase in wind speed that made Q3 particularly unpredictable.
Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was one of several drivers to point out the weather concerns, telling Sky Sports, “There was a bit more cloud in Q3. We lost one or two degrees of track temp, and for us it was a night-and-day difference, and already from the out lap I felt like I was having lots of difficulties.
“It’s a shame that it happened in Q3 because I strongly believe that we had the pace to be fighting in front, but unfortunately not today again.”
Leclerc will line up fourth on the grid, one row ahead of Russell in sixth.
READ MORE – Kimi Antonelli takes Austin pole as Max Verstappen’s final lap is deleted
Discussion about this post