Max Verstappen shows true colours – don't be fooled by George Russell's Barcelona GP podium. Inside the big stories to come out the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. By Daniel Moxon 14:15, Mon, Jun 15, 2026 Updated: 14:15, Mon, Jun 15, 2026
George Russell was an uninspiring second behind Lewis Hamilton (Image: Getty). After qualifying on pole for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, George Russell was in a hurry to tell everyone he was back. "Nice to feel the groove again," he said over the radio, and repeated that phrase more than once in his post-qualifying media duties. But, 24 hours later, there were question marks once again over his performance.
On paper, second place behind only Lewis Hamilton seems like a strong result. Team-mate and title rival Kimi Antonelli left Barcelona scoreless, his Mercedes having suffered an electrical shutdown in the dying stages of the Grand Prix. Having begun the weekend 68 points off top spot, he left Spain only 50 behind.
And while that's all that truly matters in the big picture, the circumstances of that result made it clear that Russell is still lacking the form he needs to become world champion this year. He was on it for most of the weekend, consistently out-pacing Antonelli, but in the race, when it mattered, he was found lacking again.
A strong opening period was quickly forgotten when Antonelli closed in and began to scrap for the lead. Each pit stop put Russell back on the front foot, but his tyre management was well off and that was letting his team-mate back into the fight. And as they squabbled, Hamilton was outpacing both and took his chance when the Virtual Safety Car gave him the cheap change of tyres he needed to take full control.
Boss Toto Wolff said after the race that his drivers had thrown away up to six seconds of race time by battling, crucial in giving Hamilton the opportunity to overcut in the pit lane. He also felt Mercedes could have won by stepping in to stop it. It was Russell's lack of race pace in key moments that cost them the chance to find that out. Not to mention that he was eventually passed by Antonelli anyway and would have lost second place and even more championship ground to the teenager had it not been for the late reliability problem which struck.
So a good result, yes, but from a Sunday performance far from good enough to achieve what he's aiming for this year. Russell has far more to show than this, we know that – but perhaps he should wait until he's delivered on the day that points are handed out before making any grand claims about being back to his best.
Max Verstappen's true colours
It was nice to see so many of Lewis Hamilton's rivals showing him some love. It wasn't lost on anyone in the paddock just how significant his first win with Ferrari was, nor how much of a brilliant human interest story had unfolded, in the context of his dreadful first year with the Scuderia.
Max Verstappen's congratulations to Lewis Hamilton were certainly sincere (Image: Getty). Just like everyone else, Max Verstappen was quick to congratulate Hamilton for what he later described as "a super special moment". And even though the two haven't seen eye to eye in the past, it should come as no surprise that Verstappen is as happy for Hamilton as anyone else on the grid.
Verstappen is a racer, first and foremost, and can spot a dominant performance from a mile off. But he's also a very straightforward, honest man and I don't doubt for a second that he was genuinely pleased for Hamilton. The only thing he'll be annoyed about is that he doesn't currently have a Red Bull car which can put him up there in that fight.
