‘I just really pushed the limit’ – Russell reveals how tyre troubles ruined pole chance in Madrid

George Russell has identified overheating tyres as the main reason his pace dropped off in Qualifying at the Madring, where he fell out of pole position contention and wound up P6.

The Briton appeared to get to grips with the new circuit faster than most as he topped the times in the opening practice hour, but he lost out to his competitors as the sessions went on and placed P5 and P6 in FP2 and FP3 respectively.

He nevertheless recovered some performance heading into the all-important Qualifying, setting the fastest lap in Q1 despite sharing concerns after he brushed the wall on his first effort.

While the top-10 shootout offered Russell the chance to claim his fifth pole of the season, he was unable to match the likes of Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli and ultimately wound up sixth – his lowest Qualifying result since the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“I was in the mix to fight for pole and on that last lap of Q3, I just really pushed the limit,” he reflected. “I was about three tenths up and then lost it all towards the end of the lap with the tyres overheating.

“That was quite a shame. It was really close between everyone out there and here we are.”

Russell previously delivered a frank verdict of his title chances heading into this weekend, accepting that Antonelli had “done a better job” across the season to date and deserves his current lead of 66 points in the Drivers’ Championship.

Although anything could happen in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, Russell acknowledged that his continued tyre issues will hold him back unless Mercedes can find a solution overnight.

He added: “I jumped in the car and felt very comfortable here, and confident. As the track has got faster, I’ve been struggling to get the most out of the tyres.

“I’ve just been sliding rather than going round the corners faster, and I need to understand why that is.”