- Mercedes made qualifying setup change on Russell’s W17 that hampered handling.
- Antonelli capitalised with dominant pole lap, 0.298 seconds clear of his teammate.
- Wolff confirmed that Russell cannot revert the changes ahead of Sunday’s race.
George Russell will start Sunday’s Japanese GP from second on the grid at Suzuka. But he will do so in a car that does not feel right. A setup change Mercedes made on his W17 before qualifying backfired badly.
It left the championship leader fighting his own car through one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar. Teammate Kimi Antonelli, meanwhile, had no such problems.
The Italian teenager took pole position with a lap of 1 minute, 28.778 seconds, 0.298 seconds clear of Russell, and looked every bit in control of the session from start to finish.
The setup change that backfired
The trouble began between FP3 and qualifying, when Mercedes made what they thought was a small adjustment to the rear of Russell’s car.
It was meant to sharpen his balance. Instead, it made his W17 almost undriveable.
“We made an adjustment on the rear of the car before qualifying, but it was tiny, it was meant to be transparent,” Russell told Sky Sports F1. “And I went out, and it was so bad it felt like something was broken on the rear.”
The problem hit hardest through Suzuka’s Esses, a stretch of high-speed corners where a stable rear end is essential. Russell said he “couldn’t attack any of the corners” because “the rear was trying to step out on me throughout.”
To keep the car on the road, the team stripped front downforce mid-session. Russell explained what it felt like from inside the cockpit. “I just had to adjust my driving style a lot,” he said. “I had to remove a huge amount of front wing to compensate, because it was almost like I was spinning off on the entries of the corners. The last corner, I couldn’t get around, I was almost spinning in that corner.”
The effect showed up early. Russell slipped to seventh or eighth in his opening Q1 runs before gradually pulling himself back into contention. He made it to Q3, but the underlying problem never went away.
Antonelli seizes the moment
While Russell fought to keep his car pointing straight, Antonelli looked in total control. Coming off his maiden pole and race win in China, the 18-year-old had outpaced Russell in the final two practice sessions and carried that confidence directly into qualifying.
His first flying lap in Q3 set the time that no one could match. A lock-up at Turn 11 on his final run stopped him from improving, but by that point, it did not matter. Pole was already his.
Sky Sports F1 pundit Jenson Button put it plainly after watching the lap. “What a lap! Three tenths on his team-mate George Russell, very, very impressive,” Button said. “I feel we have seen a different Kimi this weekend. He has always been extremely quick, but the consistency is there.”
Antonelli was in good spirits after the session. “I’m super happy with the session. It was a good one, it was a clean one,” he said. “I felt very good in the car, and every run I was improving and improving. A shame for the last lap because of a lock-up at Turn 11, but it was a good one. I’m really happy with the session.”
Wolff confirms George Russell will carry the handicap
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff did not try to soften what happened. He confirmed both that the setup change caused the problem and that Russell would carry it into Sunday’s race.
“We did a set-up tweak on the other side,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1, as quoted by Motorsport. “Something we expected to have less impact than it had, and it put the car on the nose, so too much oversteer and that made it very difficult for him.”
Asked if the team could reverse the changes before the race, Wolff was direct. “It’s probably the opposite,” he said. “He needs to carry this into the race now, which is certainly a disadvantage, but these things happen.”
Wolff also spoke about what has impressed him most about Antonelli this weekend. “When you hear his radio communications and also on the intercom in the garage, it’s just calm,” the Austrian said. “Not putting himself under too much pressure. Putting that one lap in that is very good.”
McLaren looks sharp at Suzuka
The margin between Russell and third-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was just half a tenth of a second. That underlined how close the fight really was behind Antonelli, and how much Russell’s compromised car may have cost him.
Russell kept his composure when talking about the session after qualifying. “Yeah, it’s not ideal,” he said. “I think, 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.”
Second on the grid at Suzuka is not a disaster for the championship leader.
But Russell heads into race day knowing his car is off, his teammate is in sublime form, and the gap to McLaren behind is paper-thin. He will need more than just a good recovery drive to get through Sunday unscathed.
