Russell is feeling like his old self again after securing pole position in Barcelona

Russell claimed provisional pole and despite late efforts from his teammate Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton his final lap time of 1:14:679 seconds was enough to secure a pole position.

“It’s been a great weekend so far, I kind of feel like my old self again, where every lap I’m doing my job and always fighting in those top positions,” the Mercedes’ driver said after the session, quoted by the official Formula 1 website. “Obviously the last few races, for numerous reasons, haven’t quite been on our side but I came into this weekend with just a clean slate, felt good and, yeah, just good to be on pole,” he continued.

The Briton was also asked about his competition for tomorrow’s race as the Ferraris and McLarens seemed strong in previous sessions: “I think it’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow. Lewis did an amazing job to get up there, I think that was a real surprise.”

“We thought the fight was with ourselves and McLaren, and then Lewis has been really quick all session so I’m sure there’s going to be a fight on our hands. Obviously Kimi’s been doing an amazing job, so tomorrow’s now going to be easy from every standpoint but I feel ready,” he concluded.