George Russell, Mercedes, Monaco, 2026

George Russell said he is “bamboozled” by his recent downturn in form after qualifying well behind his team mate in Monaco.

While Andrea Kimi Antonelli took pole position, Russell was almost four tenths of a second slower in his Mercedes and will start sixth.

“I don’t really know,” said Russell when asked why qualifying had gone so poorly for him. “If I knew I’d be able to not be in that position,” he told Sky.

“At the start of the year, it was just easy. Every lap I did in practice, qualifying, it was [first place], worst case [second], every single session: Q1, Q2, Q3.

“In the last three races, it’s just been nowhere. Even in Canada it was a real fight to get a decent lap and then I just nailed it at the end of both of those sessions. But that was sort of like pulling something special out of the hat and a little bit lucky to do it at the right time. But that’s just where I am right now.”

Russell suspects the explanation lies in the difference between his and Antonelli’s driving techniques.

“It was clear last year and it’s clear this year,” he said. “But obviously last year it suited me just fine and this year is suiting him perfectly well.

“So I need to adjust to this. I’ll do my best to do that, but it still doesn’t answer why the start of the year was such a breeze. I don’t know, I’m a bit bamboozled right now.”

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Keith Collantine

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine