George Russell’s cockpit gesture shows Lewis Hamilton surprised Mercedes at Barcelona Grand Prix

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George Russell and Mercedes weren’t expecting Lewis Hamilton to challenge them for pole position at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Hamilton had struggled during practice, having missed FP1 to allow Ferrari youngster Dino Beganovic to participate. He was ninth in the later session on Friday, some 1.2 seconds off the pace, and only closed the gap to seven-tenths in FP3.

However, the seven-time world champion split the two Mercedes on his final run in Q3, missing out on pole by less than seven-hundredths of a second.

George Russell celebrations show Lewis Hamilton’s pace came out of nowhere

Hamilton said he left the track between FP3 and qualifying to return to his motorhome – something he’s never done before. The reset worked perfectly as he immediately topped Q1 with a refined setup.

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But Russell still didn’t see him as a serious threat in Q3. Onboard footage shows that, when the Briton crossed the line after what proved to be his pole lap, he started pumping his fist in celebration.

The 28-year-old had clearly seen that he had outpaced teammate Kimi Antonelli and thought pole was in the bag.

But had he known that Hamilton was flying behind him – his former teammate went purple in sector two – he might have had a different reaction.

“Lewis, I think, really surprised all of us with his strong pace today,” Russell said in the post-qualifying press conference. “We all thought the fight was going to be with the McLarens in qualifying.

“We made a step to McLaren, but then Lewis, you know, from lap one in Q1, it was, ‘Well, you know, where’s this come from?'”

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton instantly knew exactly where he ‘lost’ Barcelona Grand Prix pole to George Russell

Lando Norris joined Kimi Antonelli on the second row, while Oscar Piastri was a disappointing seventh behind the two Red Bull drivers.

While Hamilton finished second in Canada and Monaco, he hadn’t previously outqualified championship leader Antonelli this year. P2 is his best Saturday result as a Ferrari driver.