George Russell finished the Belgian Grand Prix qualifying session 0.508 seconds behind his teammate Kimi Antonelli's pole position. At a press conference in Spa earlier in the week, the British driver largely attributed his speed loss in straight corners to his own driving style, but after qualifying, he announced that this view was now invalid for both himself and the Mercedes team.
A process ranging from braking style to vehicle problems.
Russell had experienced similar straight-line corner losses in Silverstone and Austria in recent weeks. A 0.35-second loss to Antonelli in Silverstone sprint qualifying drew attention; Mercedes initially concluded the problem lay with the brakes, then with the driver's throttle technique. Russell explained the situation with these words: “First we checked the braking system, it wasn't the problem. Then we investigated my driving style, my throttle usage, and I convinced myself that something was wrong. Now we are very sure that it has nothing to do with driving style; there is a serious problem and the team is working intensively to solve it.”
The power unit and energy management structure introduced by the 2026 technical regulations further complicates these issues. On 'energy-hungry' tracks like Silverstone and Spa, drivers who slow down excessively in corners and use electric deployment to recover lost energy experience significant speed losses later in the lap when their charge levels drop. Mercedes' initial theory was that Russell, who braked late and hard, used up his electric charge earlier than Antonelli; however, this theory is no longer valid.
The difference growing section by section on the straight bend
An analysis of the qualifying data reveals that Russell lost the most time on the final straight between Blanchimont and the chicane. Race engineer Marcus Dudley informed Russell during qualifying that the main corner time loss occurred at turn 14, Campus; however, the data only confirms this as a starting point. The real difference widens linearly from one-thousandth to one-fifth in the section from Stavelot to the chicane. Speed graphs show the two cars running parallel, but Antonelli consistently a few kilometers faster.
Russell also provided clear figures to illustrate the difference between practice sessions and qualifying: “On Friday I was losing a tenth of a second on the straights, today it’s four. That’s a step in the right direction; but on my last lap in Q3 I lost another tenth of a second and a half on the straight compared to my previous lap. Watching the speed drop from the steering wheel when you’re going full throttle feels helpless.’
Team principal Toto Wolff also acknowledged the situation unequivocally: “We can’t explain George’s loss of straight-line cornering speed; it’s a matter of tenths of a second. We’ve left no stone unturned. We’re also asking whether Kimi having a completely new power unit makes a difference.” Wolff added that the next tracks will be less energy-demanding, allowing for a clearer picture of the situation between the two cars.
Russell concluded by saying: “We thought that driving style and technique were causing this loss; in the end, we came to the conclusion that this wasn’t the case. We changed everything. The team is really working hard to understand what it was.”