George Russell explained that his "smooth" driving approach simply does not suit the low‑grip conditions of the Miami International Autodrome, which is why he finds himself a substantial distance behind his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli at the Florida round. Antonelli, who currently leads the Drivers' Championship by seven points, secured an impressive pole for Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix, edging Russell out by almost four‑tenths of a second and relegating the Brit to fifth on the starting grid. The qualifying order reflected the pattern that had emerged over the weekend.
The 19‑year‑old Italian had already taken second place in the Sprint Qualifying on Friday, while Russell could only manage sixth. In the Sprint race itself Antonelli recovered from a poor start to finish fourth on the road, four seconds clear of Russell, but a five‑second penalty for exceeding track limits on four separate occasions dropped him to sixth, behind both his teammate and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
"I just struggle on these low‑grip circuits, so here [in Miami], Zandvoort, Brazil," Russell told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying. "It was the same last year.
It's something I want to work on but there are three tracks out of the 24 that are outliers, and Miami is definitely top of that list." Russell described himself as a "smooth, precise driver" and said his natural style works best when the car can be driven close to the limit without having to slide. "On these tracks you have to be happy with the car just sliding," he added. "I like the car on the edge, but this is like you have a set of 200‑lap old tyres on your car and you go around and it's just sliding, oversteer and understeer.
That's the same for everyone." He highlighted the extreme heat in Miami, noting that high tyre pressures and very low grip make the car feel uncomfortable compared with circuits such as Saudi Arabia, where the grip level is much higher. "It's so hot, the tyre pressures are high, the grip is really low, so it doesn't feel that pleasant, whereas tracks like Saudi the grip is super high," he said. After Russell captured the season‑opening Australian Grand Prix from pole position, Antonelli responded with pole positions and victories in China and Japan, building a nine‑point lead before the calendar paused for five weeks due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds. During that hiatus, commentators highlighted the surprising fact that Russell – a clear pre‑season favourite for the drivers’ title – was trailing his considerably less experienced teammate after just three rounds.
While Russell did trim his deficit in the Miami Sprint, the reduction was largely the result of an unforced error by Antonelli, who had shown a clear pace advantage throughout the session. Looking ahead to the main race, Russell insisted he would not be thinking about "damage limitation" despite the start being moved three hours earlier to 6 pm UK time because of a forecasted thunderstorm.
"I'm not thinking damage limitation," he said. "I'm just going out there to maximise the result. That was the same in the Sprint. Tomorrow is a different day with weather on the radar, and we saw again with the race starts, everything can change in the first few hundred metres." Sky Sports F1 analyst Naomi Schiff predicted that Russell would be "irritated" after finishing behind Antonelli for a third consecutive qualifying session.
She explained, "The worst thing you see is your teammate making more of a gap, going out every session and being quicker than him. And regardless of whether it's a driving style thing or not, if he ends up in a head‑to‑head battle with his teammate, he's got to be better than him every time he goes out there.
It might swing around again, but obviously George is going to be irritated by that." Schiff added that Russell is a great driver and will not enjoy the situation, but reminded that the season is long and consistency is on his side. "He's obviously not got the pace this weekend, but he's always there, he's always going to score the points," she said. Former world champion and Sky Sports F1 pundit Jenson Button echoed the sentiment, noting the difficulty for a precision driver when the car is forced to slide. "When you're a precision driver, it's really difficult when you find yourself sliding into a corner and you can't pick out the apex as you want, or the exit.
And it's also worse here because there are other teams that are competitive. He's got the McLarens in front, he's got the Ferraris and Max in a Red Bull." Antonelli, who admitted to making too many mistakes during the Sprint, expressed satisfaction with the lap that earned him pole. He explained that his best effort came on his first of two flying laps in Q3; a second attempt was ruined by an error at the first corner.
"It hasn't been easy this weekend – very hot, track very slippery, and also this track is not easy to put all the sectors together," he told Sky Sports F1. "I think I was happy with my lap.
Maybe there was a little bit more on the table, but we don't know because I didn't even do one corner. I'm happy with the performance, especially this weekend where with the others bringing big upgrades, it has been a bit more difficult for us, but the team did a tremendous job." The weekend schedule featured the F2 Feature Race at 2.25 pm on Sunday, followed by the Miami GP build‑up at 4 pm, the Grand Prix itself at 6 pm, a post‑race reaction segment at 8 pm, and a final analysis segment at 9 pm, all broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event. As the 2026 Formula 1 season resumes in Miami, fans can watch the action live on Sky Sports F1, with streaming available via NOW – no contract required and cancellable at any time.