George Russell taken aback by ‘impressive’ McLaren, Ferrari improvement at F1 Miami Grand Prix
George Russell reveals his surprise at how much Mercedes' F1 rivals have improved.
Mercedes driver George Russell was taken aback by the “impressive” improvements made by rivals McLaren and Ferrari at Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris caused an upset by becoming the first non-Mercedes driver to claim a pole position in the 2026 season as he put his McLaren at the front of the grid for Saturday’s sprint race in Miami.
Norris beat Russell’s championship-leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli to front the grid by two tenths, while Oscar Piastri took third to underline the gains made by McLaren after heavily updating its MCL40 car.
Ferrari also brought a substantial upgrade package to Miami, with Charles Leclerc among the drivers to out-qualify Russell, who had to settle with a disappointing sixth.
"Pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That's pretty damn impressive,” the Briton admitted after sprint qualifying.
"We knew they had probably closed the gap but all day they were quicker than us.”
Russell, who lapped four tenths slower than Antonelli, added: "From my side, I've been struggling.
“Miami is not a track I love, especially in those hotter conditions but it's only Sprint Qualifying, so let's see what tomorrow brings.”
Asked about his specific struggles, Russell explained: "Just overheating the tyres a lot. In that twisty section in the middle, I struggled to get the right balance with the car.
"I've been quite surprised by the progress of the others. I'm not in a great starting position. The Sprints generally don't offer that much but obviously China was interesting, which gives an opportunity to have a bit of a race.”
2009 world champion Jenson Button expressed surprised at just how far off the pace Russell was.
"We all have bogey tracks as drivers but it's surprising how far off he is from Kimi,” Button told Sky Sports F1. "It's only one weekend but he's got to maximise what he can do with the car.”
Russell was the pre-season favourite for the 2026 world championship but trails Antonelli by nine points after the opening three races.
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