Russell starts title fightback with Barcelona pole as Hamilton qualifies second

George Russell took a morale-boosting pole for Sunday’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix and will line up alongside a resurgent Lewis Hamilton on the front row in Spain.

Russell, who has had a torrid few weeks in which he has fallen 68 points behind Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli in the title race, told his team it was “nice to feel the groove again” as he returned to the pits.

The British driver beat Antonelli by over three-tenths of a second at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to continue his fine form from practice.

Hamilton, who has profited from Russell’s recent struggles to move into second in the championship, very nearly pipped his former Mercedes team-mate to pole. The seven-time world champion was up on Russell’s time midway through his final push lap, but lost time in the final sector to finish 0.064sec behind.

Hamilton’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc suffered a heavy shunt in Q3, bringing out red flags while marshals carried out repairs to the barriers. It follows the Monegasque’s race-ending crash in Monaco last weekend, since when he has switched his brake setup to match his team mate. Leclerc’s latest accident led to suggestions he may be rattled by Hamilton’s form.

Antonelli will start third, with McLaren’s Lando Norris fourth and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fifth.

More to follow…