Austrian Grand Prix 2026: George Russell’s quick thinking and ‘magic lap’ produces unexpected pole
Russell had not looked like a candidate for pole position in Austria for most of the weekend, falling behind Antonelli in the first two qualifying sessions.
However, he found momentum in the third session, becoming second fastest by just 0.043 seconds and putting in a good performance on the final lap.
“This is one of them; when you nail Turn One and go quickly, the car doesn’t skid, it maintains balance. [tyre] the temperatures have dropped a little bit, so as you approach the next corner the tires are cooler and then you have more grip, you get through there quicker and the tires are cooler once again,” said Russell.
“It’s kind of an upward spiral. And in the same way, if you have a bad Turn One, you’re in this downward spiral. It just clicked. It’s just one of those magic laps, and I’m so glad, because it’s been a really tough run for me.”
Russell fell 68 points behind Antonelli in the championship after Monaco earlier this month, and a penalty he should never have taken dropped him from third to 12th.
This came after he retired from the lead in Canada, was off the pace in Miami and conditions went against him in several races earlier in the season.
The only chance he had was in the final race in Spain when Antonelli retired for second place, passing Russell behind Lewis Hamilton’s winning Ferrari.
Antonelli admitted Saturday that he wouldn’t have been able to beat Russell’s time even if he hadn’t stepped on his lap when he didn’t need to (mistakenly thinking he saw double-waving yellow flags instead of the single yellow flags that were in place).
“He would have been very close with George,” the Italian said. “He might have been a little ahead, but he would have been in the front row.”
This time Russell protected him, but he wasn’t sure why.
“The lap was incredible,” Russell said. “And of course I got that yellow flag, the only yellow in the last sector, but I did a hundred-metre lift, lost a lot of time, and yet you know… I don’t know. I don’t have an answer.
“Of course I’ll look into where this came from with my team, but I felt so sweet.”
