Jenson Button thinks George Russell was ‘downbeat’ after his ‘surprising’ deficit to Kimi Antonelli

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Jenson Button was surprised by how much slower George Russell was in qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix Sprint compared to Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Russell had his worst qualifying session of the 2026 F1 season so far in Florida this Friday, as the Briton could only set the sixth-fastest lap time during SQ3. McLaren driver Lando Norris also took pole for the Sprint at the Miami GP with a huge 0.624-second margin over Russell.

Mercedes had locked out the front row for every Grand Prix and Sprint across the first three rounds of the season, with Russell also securing pole for the Australian GP and the F1 Sprint in China. Antonelli held up his end of the bargain by sealing P2 in Sprint Qualifying in Miami.

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Jenson Button was surprised by George Russell’s Sprint Qualifying deficit to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Miami

Antonelli emerged as Norris’ main rival for pole in Sprint Qualifying on Friday, but he ended the session 0.222s adrift of the Briton’s time. Norris scored pole for the Miami Sprint as the only driver to deliver a lap time in the 1:27s with a 1:27.869, while Antonelli set a 1:28.091.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Miami GP, including the Sprint, plus weather forecast

Button was surprised that Russell could only set a time strong enough for P6 in SQ3, whilst Antonelli was able to secure P2 in his Mercedes W17 with a lap 0.402s faster. The 2009 F1 champion also feels his British compatriot seemed “downbeat” reflecting on his qualifying.

“We all have bogey tracks as drivers, but it’s surprising how far he is off Kimi in qualifying,” Button said on Sky Sports F1 (01/05, 22:37).

“So, he’s a bit downbeat, but, you know, this is one race weekend. He’s just got to maximise what he can do with the car in the championship fight.”

George Russell admits he is ‘struggling’ at the 2026 Miami Grand Prix

Russell won the Australian GP from pole and the F1 Sprint in China from pole, and on those occasions he even edged Antonelli to top the qualifying sessions by 0.293s and 0.289s. But Antonelli is now enjoying a spell of beating Russell in three consecutive qualifying sessions.

Mercedes saw Antonelli score his debut F1 Grand Prix pole in China, which he converted to win, when Russell encountered reliability problems but still managed to bag P2 on the grid. Antonelli edged Russell to pole for the Japanese GP entirely on merit by a margin of 0.298s.

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Now, McLaren’s Norris has taken pole ahead of Antonelli for the Miami Sprint, and McLaren star Oscar Piastri plus Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen even qualified ahead of Russell. Russell’s best time in SQ3 was 0.385s worse than Piastri’s fastest lap time.

The pace of the McLaren MCL40 and the Ferrari SF-26 in Miami surprised Russell, who also admits that he is not a huge fan of the circuit set inside the car parks of Hard Rock Stadium. Russell’s average qualifying for a Sprint in Miami is P7.3 and is only P7.5 for the Miami GP.

Russell said, via Sky Sports: “Pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari made. That’s pretty damn impressive. We knew they had probably closed the gap, but all day they were quicker than us.

“From my side, I’ve been struggling. Miami is not a track I love, especially in those hotter conditions. But it’s only Sprint Qualifying, so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”