F1 2026: George Russell takes pole at Barcelona-Catalunya GP
13 Jun 2026

George Russell has clinched the pole position at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix (Spanish Grand Prix), edging out his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli and Scuderia Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.

The qualifying session was marred by a crash from Charles Leclerc, who crashed into the wall at Turn Four during Q3.

This incident forced him to settle for a disappointing 10th place on the grid.

Russell tops the grid in Barcelona
Qualifying details

Russell, who had fallen 68 points behind his teammate Antonelli after failing to score in the last two races, needed a strong performance this weekend.

He delivered just that with a blistering final lap of 1:14.679 in Q3.

The time was enough to put him ahead of Antonelli by an impressive margin of 0.3 seconds and Hamilton by just 0.064 seconds.

Hamilton 3rd ahead of Norris and Verstappen
Close contest

Hamilton, who was carrying Ferrari's hopes after Leclerc's crash, put up a strong fight but fell just short of claiming his first Grand Prix pole since 2023.

He was followed by Antonelli in third place for Mercedes.

The top five were rounded off by McLaren's Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Barcelona-Catalunya GP Qualifying: Top 10 drivers
10

1) George Russell, Mercedes

2) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

3) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

4) Lando Norris, McLaren

5) Max Verstappen, Red Bull

6) Isack Hadjar, Red Bull

7) Oscar Piastri, McLaren

8) Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls

9) Nico Hulkenberg, Audi

10) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari