Barcelona Grand Prix 2026: Russell takes pole
George Russell took pole at the Barcelona Grand Prix 2026 by 0.064s from Lewis Hamilton, with Mercedes also placing Andrea Kimi Antonelli third.
George Russell took pole position for Mercedes at the Barcelona Grand Prix on 14 June 2026 with a Q3 lap of 1:14.679. Lewis Hamilton qualified second for Ferrari, 0.064s slower on 1:14.743.
Qualifying
Andrea Kimi Antonelli put the second Mercedes third on the grid with a 1:14.998 in Q3 at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Lando Norris qualified fourth for McLaren on 1:15.001, while Max Verstappen took fifth for Red Bull with a 1:15.021.
Isack Hadjar secured sixth for Red Bull with a 1:15.077, and Oscar Piastri placed seventh for McLaren on 1:15.090. Liam Lawson reached Q3 for RB F1 Team and qualified eighth with a 1:16.542, while Nico Hülkenberg took ninth for Audi on 1:16.657.
Front row
Russell led every phase for Mercedes with times of 1:15.717 in Q1, 1:15.228 in Q2 and 1:14.679 in Q3. Hamilton opened with a 1:15.625 in Q1, improved to 1:15.418 in Q2 and then closed to within 0.064s of pole in Q3.
Grid shake-up
Antonelli’s third place meant Mercedes placed two cars in the top three in qualifying for round seven of the season. Charles Leclerc qualified 10th for Ferrari after laps of 1:15.964 in Q1 and 1:15.281 in Q2, and he had no recorded Q3 time despite being listed 10th.