George Russell says he’ll head into Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix ‘handcuffed’ after a small setup tweak that wrecked his qualifying run.
Russell will start second at Suzuka, almost three tenths behind Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who took pole. Mercedes had looked evenly matched all weekend, but a change to the rear of Russell’s car after final practice left him struggling in qualifying.
The adjustment was intended to be ‘tiny’ and ‘transparent’, Russell said, but on his outing the rear felt as if it were broken. He had to alter his driving significantly and remove a large amount of front wing to compensate because the car was oversteering on corner entries. He added that in the final corner he was nearly spinning and couldn’t complete the lap cleanly.
With only the third round of the season, Russell pointed to the learning curve with the new 2026 cars and power units. The tweak was designed to rebalance the car, but it either has a greater effect than anticipated, was fitted incorrectly, or something is damaged. “Unfortunately, we’re a little bit handcuffed now,” he said.
Despite the setback, Mercedes’ strong early-season pace kept Russell on the front row, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri a close third. Russell noted the problem follows a similar issue in China, where a technical fault in Q3 cost him and allowed Antonelli to take the win and reduce Russell’s championship lead to four points.
Team principal Toto Wolff confirmed the setup change will be a disadvantage in the race. He said the tweak put Russell’s car ‘on the nose’, producing too much oversteer and making the car difficult to drive, meaning Russell will have to manage the deficit during the Grand Prix.
Antonelli, meanwhile, views Russell as his main threat despite starting on pole. He said he’ll concentrate on executing the start and aiming to be first into Turn 1 to use the clean air to control the pace.
Antonelli also expects the 2026-generation cars to make following and overtaking easier, helped by overtake-mode battery harvesting and deployment, but warned Suzuka will still be more challenging than the likes of China and Melbourne. The track’s tighter layout and many fast entries mean overtaking won’t be straightforward, so a strong getaway will be vital.