Russell capitalises on Antonelli error to take Azerbaijan pole

Russell – who begins the weekend 81 points behind the Italian – simply has to capitalise. And he really should do. Even if Antonelli hadn’t crashed out, he has looked on a different level this weekend, dominating practice and qualifying. Russell topped Q1, Q3 and Q3, securing the 12th pole of his career with a lap which was nine tenths quicker than his best lap in Q2 and eight tenths quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the next fastest driver. He could hardly believe it himself.

“That was a pretty decent lap,” he told his team over the radio on his cooldown lap. “How much was [the gap]?” 

“Just over eight tenths to Leclerc.” came the response. “Woah!”

This has not been the easiest season for Russell, who began the year the overwhelming favourite for the title, having dominated his younger team-mate over the course of last season. So he could be forgiven for feeling proud of having done such a good job.

“It’s been a while so it definitely feels good,” he admitted. “This was probably the biggest pole margin of my whole career, including my F2 and F3 days.

“The lap felt really sweet, car’s been feeling really great this weekend. On a track like this where you can hug it, it feels amazing.”