George Russell Explains Miami Deficit as Antonelli Takes Pole
George Russell qualified fifth for the Miami Grand Prix after Kimi Antonelli took pole position and beat him by almost four tenths of a second. Russell said his smooth driving style has not suited Miami’s low-grip surface, and the gap came after he had already finished sixth in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying.
Antonelli Sets the Pace in Miami
Antonelli’s pole left Russell facing the same issue he has pointed to on other low-grip circuits. The Mercedes driver said Miami, Zandvoort and Brazil are the kind of tracks that expose his style, because he is “quite a smooth, precise driver.”
“I just struggle on these low-grip circuits, so here [in Miami], Zandvoort, Brazil,” Russell said after qualifying in Miami. He added: “It was the same last year. It's something I want to work on but there are three tracks out of the 24 that are outliers, and Miami is definitely top of that list.”
Russell on the Edge
Russell expanded on why the Miami International Autodrome has been awkward for him. “I like the car on the edge, but this is like you have a set of 200-lap old tyres on your car and you go around and it's just sliding, oversteer and understeer. That's the same for everyone,” he said.
He also pointed to the conditions: “It's so hot, the tyre pressures are high, the grip is really low, so it doesn't feel that pleasant, whereas tracks like Saudi the grip is super high.”
Mercedes Split Across Two Sessions
The weekend has already produced a clear split inside Mercedes. Antonelli was second in Sprint Qualifying on Friday and finished fourth on track in the Sprint, but a five-second penalty for breaching track limits on four occasions dropped him below Russell and Max Verstappen to sixth in the classification.
Russell was sixth in that session, then moved up to fifth for Grand Prix qualifying while Antonelli took pole. Antonelli’s penalty narrowed the gap in the Sprint order only briefly; the qualifying result restored the bigger contrast, with Russell nine points behind his team-mate before the five-week pause that followed the opening rounds.
That leaves Russell with a clear target in Sunday’s race. He said he will not be thinking about damage limitation, even after a qualifying loss built on a style mismatch rather than a single mistake, and the Miami Grand Prix was scheduled to start at 6pm UK time.
