Russell concerned for race prospects after “massive” set-up change in qualifying

George Russell says there is little he can do to remedy his compromised set-up after struggling in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The championship leader was beaten to pole position at Suzuka by Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Russell complained several times of handling problems in his car as he struggled to get close to his team mate’s lap times.

“It was really odd, to be honest,” he said afterwards. “We made a set-up adjustment just going into qualifying and the car just did not feel the same as it has been the whole weekend.”

“You saw my first laps in Q1, I was down in P7, P8. We had to make a massive adjustment during qualifying with the front wing to adapt.

“The team have already had a look. We don’t know whether something incorrect was done or what happened, but I’m kind of glad again to be in this position because after Q1, I was like, ‘I’m not sure where we’ll end up’.”

After his first run in qualifying, Russell reported on his radio the car was oversteering excessively.

“We [had] a mechanical issue [on] the car at the rear end,” he explained. “It was just mainly through the Esses. I couldn’t attack any of the corners. The rear was trying to step out on me throughout.

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“I’m sure we’ll try and see what happened. There’s not really anything we can do now, but as I said, it’s a good [position] to start for tomorrow and it’s going to be a long race.”

As teams are unable to make significant set-up changes between qualifying and the grand prix, Russell said he will have to adjust his driving style to cope.

“It’s not ideal. As I said, I’ve felt really comfortable with the car this whole weekend and in qualifying something didn’t quite feel right.

“So, let’s see tonight, maybe we’ll get some answers, maybe I can adjust my driving style to compensate, but definitely not the session we would have wanted. [For] two [rounds] in a row qualifying has been a bit tricky.”

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2026 Japanese Grand Prix

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• Russell concerned for race prospects after “massive” set-up change in qualifying
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