Russell (Mercedes): Confusion after questionable pole – will Ferrari protest?

This pole position is causing quite a stir: championship leader Kimi Antonelli abandoned his final attempt after Max Verstappen had spun his car off the track, but Russell set the fastest time. Was everything above board?

The FIA announced: ‘This is being investigated.’ Then came the all-clear – no further investigation required. But shortly afterwards, adding to the confusion, came the FIA’s announcement that Russell had lost his lap due to a double-waved flag. As we write this story, it is unclear whether Ferrari will ask the stewards to take another closer look at the matter.

Against the breathtaking backdrop of Styria, 28-year-old Russell has secured his eleventh Formula 1 pole position, his fourth of the 2026 season (following Australia, Canada and Spain) and his first at this historic circuit.

Russell insists: “This pole feels great; the lap was magnificent – then I saw the yellow flag and slowed down, a hundred metres earlier than usual. I was much faster at that point than on my first attempt, so it was enough. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

How the final practice session went

The whole of Europe is sweltering, including the Formula 1 circus in Styria: 33.2 degrees at the start of qualifying, with the track at 52.4 degrees.

In the first qualifying segment (18 minutes), George Russell, who had been fastest in the third practice session, initially set the pace, only to be pipped – to cheers from the stands – by Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen.

The fastest time lasted only a few seconds; then Norris took the lead, followed by Hamilton between Norris and Verstappen (who only did one lap), before championship leader Kimi Antonelli took the top spot. Russell initially had no answer to the Italian’s time, managing only P8, half a second behind.

Eliminated in Q1: Both Williams (Sainz and Albon), both Cadillacs (Pérez and Bottas), both Aston Martin-Hondas (Alonso and Stroll).

Top ten: Antonelli, Norris, Hamilton, Lawson, Russell, Verstappen, Hadjar, Piastri, Leclerc and Lindblad.

In the second qualifying session (15 minutes), world champion Norris set the initial benchmark, though with a slightly slower time than in Q1. Max Verstappen beat that, before Leclerc took the lead on fresh tyres (Max was on used ones), the Monegasque driver nine thousandths of a second faster than Hamilton.

Then everything happened in a flash: Antonelli moved ahead of Piastri and Leclerc, whilst Russell aborted his attempt – at that point, the Briton was down to P16 (having messed up Turn 3). Norris also had cause for concern – after riding the kerb in Q1, there was speculation that the rear of his McLaren had been damaged.

In the final part of Q2, Norris was the first of the top drivers to take to the track, with Lando moving up to P3. George Russell scraped through to P4, Leclerc to P5, then Hamilton was a hair’s breadth faster than Leclerc.

Max Verstappen stayed in the pits, taking a big risk to have two fresh sets of soft tyres for Q3, as he dropped back and back and only made it through to P10 by the skin of his teeth – just 40 thousandths ahead of his former team-mate Pierre Gasly!

So out went: Gasly, Bortoleto, Bearman, Hülkenberg, Ocon and Colapinto. That left the top ten as follows: Antonelli, Piastri, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Hadjar, Lawson, Lindblad and Verstappen.

In Q3 (12 minutes), all the top drivers were on two sets of fresh Pirelli tyres. Norris set the fastest time, but then Max came along – half a second faster! We could hear the fans’ applause all the way back in the press centre.

Piastri couldn’t respond, but Antonelli could; the Italian took the lead by 61 thousandths! Then Russell also edged ahead of Verstappen by 18 thousandths.

Where was Ferrari? Hamilton had messed up Turn 3; the Barcelona GP winner was in P10 with no time recorded. Charles Leclerc was currently fifth.

At the end of qualifying, Hamilton was back on top, then Leclerc took the lead – and Verstappen crashed! That left his rivals with no chance to react. The clock then showed Russell in the lead, but were there no yellow flags at the scene of the crash? Confusion all round.

The standings were therefore: Russell (who must prove that he braked at the scene of the crash) ahead of Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Hadjar, Lawson and Lindblad.

The FIA investigated immediately: a yellow-flag offence against Russell. And gave the all-clear – no penalty required!