George Russell reveals Mercedes setup error forced ‘massive’ front wing change

George Russell revealed that a setup change made to his Mercedes W17 ahead of qualifying backfired, one which necessitated a “massive” in-session adjustment to the front wing.

Russell made that reveal after questioning his Mercedes machine at several stages of Japanese Grand Prix qualifying, having been on the back foot to Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli. To make the front row in a fresh Mercedes lockout, was therefore a result welcomed by Russell.

George Russell explains Mercedes qualifying setup issue

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On the evidence of final practice, Mercedes were expected to breeze to another pole and P2 on the grid. However, things did not go that smoothly for the Silver Arrows.

Already in Q1, Russell was complaining that something did not feel right with his W17, as he troubled to challenge the leading pace.

Russell was unable to match Antonelli, but Mercedes took enough of a step in Q3 to lock out the front row, as Antonelli made it back-to-back pole positions.

Appearing in the post-qualifying press conference, it was put to Russell that he appeared to be chasing the car throughout qualifying.

“It was really odd, to be honest,” he replied.

“We made a setup adjust going into qualifying, and the car just did not feel the same as it has been the whole weekend.

“You saw my first laps in Q1, I was down in P7, P8, and we had to make a massive adjust during qualifying with the front wing to adapt.

“The team have already had a look. We don’t know whether something incorrect was done or what happened.

“But I’m kind of glad again to be in this position, because after Q1, I wasn’t sure where we’ll end up.”

Russell was asked what the main issues with his car were, and where on the track he was being impacted.

The final sector had looked particularly troublesome for the Mercedes driver.

“We made a mechanical issue to the car on the rear end,” he said, “and it was just mainly through the esses. I couldn’t attack any of the corners. The rear was trying to step out on me throughout.

“I’m sure we’ll try and see what happened. There’s not really anything we can do now, but as I said, it’s a good place to start for tomorrow, and it’s going to be a long race.”

A good place to start, but Russell was asked what this issue means for the Grand Prix on Sunday.

“It’s not ideal, I don’t think,” he admitted.

“As I said, I’ve been really comfortable with the car this whole weekend, and just in qualifying, something didn’t quite feel right.

“So let’s see tonight. Maybe we’ll get some answers. Maybe I can adjust my driving style to compensate.

“But definitely not the session we would have wanted. Two weeks in a row, qualifying has been a bit tricky.”

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Come the end of final practice, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the only car within a second of Mercedes’ pace. That deficit reduced massively come qualifying.

A Mercedes versus McLaren versus Ferrari battle appeared to be on the cards. It was only come Q3 that Antonelli put three and a half tenths between himself and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who will look to start his first grand prix of F1 2026, from third.

Russell was asked if he was surprised to see how the grid has closed up.

“Yeah, to be honest, qualifying was very close between the Ferraris and McLaren throughout,” he said. “So that was probably a bit of a surprise to us, because we both had a very strong FP3 session, and we thought we had a bit of margin to the competitors.

“Obviously, we’re still P1 and P2, so that’s great, but clearly, the others are closing in.”

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