George Russell makes Kimi Antonelli joke after Baku F1 crash

George Russell has landed a cheeky joke following Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s qualifying nightmare at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

Russell claimed an imperious pole position by a massive 0.837 seconds while runaway championship leader Antonelli, who leads his team-mate by 81 points in the drivers’ standings, will start a lowly 16th following a crash. 

Antonelli made a rare mistake when he smashed into the inside wall at Turn 1 during his second flying lap in the first part of qualifying. While he advanced to Q2 by virtue of his opening effort, Antonelli could not participate in the second session due to the damage caused to his Mercedes. 

Russell poked fun at the situation after qualifying by light-heartedly claiming that Antonelli “should be leading a few laps early this time”. 

The Briton’s remark was a reference to Antonelli’s incredible fightback victory at the Italian Grand Prix, where the 20-year-old charged from 19th on the grid to beat Russell to a decisive win on home soil at Monza. 

“Looking back on yesterday’s practice, I think Verstappen was the biggest threat,” Russell said when asked who could pose the main threat to his hopes of converting a fifth pole of 2026 into what would be just his third victory.

“I think he probably got a bit blocked by Lando [Norris] with the yellow flag at the end, so didn’t have that chance to improve. I think we really don’t know. McLaren also threw out a big surprise at the beginning of Q3. They were one and two, and that was a surprise. But I feel Verstappen is going to be a threat. 

“Obviously, you can’t discount Kimi. [He] started 19th in Monza and now he’s in 16th, so, yeah, he should be leading by a few laps early this time.”

Russell admitted he was “shocked” by the dominant margin of his pole - which marked the largest gap seen so far in qualifying this season. 

“I’ve been feeling in a great spot this whole weekend. From FP1 I felt confident, I felt hooked up,” Russell explained. 

“I’m just getting more and more on top of this car and what it requires, and it’s just all feeling more intuitive. I felt very confident we were in the running for pole, but when I crossed the line and I saw the gap, I was shocked. 

“I knew the lap was great. I had a nice slipstream at the end, which gave me an extra probably tenth and a half, two tenths, and it just all perfectly came together.” 

Asked if it is a breakthrough moment for him after his recent struggles, Russell replied: “I wouldn’t necessarily say so. It’s definitely just being perfectly hooked up for me this weekend so far. 

“Me and my team have put so much work in to help me get on top of the limitations, and I think since the summer break it’s been great. The performance has been substantially better than the results have shown - it’s three front-row starts in the four races since the break. I’m very pleased with it.”