The Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team continues to roar on all cylinders, remaining the lone team this season to have claimed pole position in every race so far as George Russell is set to start the Spanish Grand Prix on top of the grid.
Russell, who is set to start on the front row for the second time this year, topped all racers with a track time of 1:14.679—all while enduring the hot summer heat of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which averages a whopping 50 degrees Celsius in track temperature.
“It’s been a great weekend so far, I’m always fighting. I came into this weekend with a clean slate, felt good, and it is great to be on pole… Tomorrow will not be easy,” Russell said post-qualifying.
Mercedes Drivers Top Podium
Aside from Russell starting in P1, sophomore racer Kimi Antonelli remains roaring with momentum from his Monaco Grand Prix victory last week, as the Italian star will sit in third place after trailing Russell’s time by only three-tenths of a second.
“A little bit of a difficult weekend, didn’t really have the feeling with the car. But long run was strong yesterday, so that is a positive,” Antonelli said.
Halfway into the season, no other team has yet to beat a Mercedes driver to the checkered flag—and with both Russell and Antonelli sitting at the podium, teams will surely be staring at their taillights once again.
Lewis Hamilton Claims P2 for Ferrari, Charles Leclerc Crashes Out Again
Meanwhile, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton gave Ferrari its lone positive for tomorrow’s race, as the British driver will start in second place after trailing the pole lap time by a mere 0.064 seconds.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc’s misfortunes continue to pile up, as the Monegasque driver will start at P10 after crashing out at Turn 4 in the final qualifying session. This marks Leclerc’s second consecutive crash after a misfortune in his Monaco tilt marked him a DNF in his home race.
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen—the last two drivers’ champions—rounded out the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
The grid will officially launch into the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, June 14.
