EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsGeorge Russell began his quest to charge back into world championship contention by pipping Lewis Hamilton to pole position for Sunday's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.British driver Russell has failed to score at the previous two races, undone by an engine issue in Montreal before falling foul of penalties in Monaco which dropped him out of the points.Russell has bemoaned the misfortune which has decimated his title tilt as 19-year-old Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli has won five races in a row to lead the standings by 66 points from Hamilton.But, believing the pressure is now off, Russell -- 68 points adrift -- has been on song throughout the weekend and took his third pole of the season by just 0.064 seconds ahead of Hamilton.It continued Mercedes' clean sweep of pole positions this season, as Russell's mighty lap saw off the challenge of Ferrari's Hamilton.Antonelli will start Sunday's 66-lap race from third, ahead of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.Russell said: "I came into this weekend with a clean slate, great weekend and it's just great to be on pole."It's going to be an interesting race tomorrow, Lewis did a great job to be up there. We will have a fight on our hands, tomorrow will not be easy from every standpoint but I feel ready."The track temperature hit 51C as qualifying began on the outskirts of Barcelona.Hamilton has finished second to Antonelli at the previous two races and vowed to chase after him across the remainder of the season.He raised hopes that a first pole since July 2023 might be possible by topping the opening session.Less than two tenths separated the top five in the second running, with Norris joining the fight to suggest three teams were in the battle for pole.One of those hopefuls, Charles Leclerc, suffered a heavy crash nose-first into the barriers at turn four on his first run in Q3 as the session was red-flagged.- Max Verstappen 'impressed' by Kimi Antonelli's rise to stardom: 'Could see it coming'- Toto Wolff: Mercedes 'assessing' legal options for George Russell Monaco GP penalty- Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix 2026: Race start time, how to watch, full schedule, predictionsIt was a third crash in eight days for the Mongasque, whose home race ended with him in the barriers, and he chose to change the brakes on his Ferrari to match Hamilton's ahead of this weekend.Russell delivered a storming lap to see off Antonelli on his final run in Q3 but the big threat came from Hamilton, who fell just a fraction short of ending his long wait for pole.Hamilton said: "These guys [Russell and Antonelli] did a great lap but we are in a good position to be able to fight tomorrow so we have a race!"Antonelli would become only the sixth driver in Formula 1 history to win six or more races in a row with victory on Sunday.
