Mercedes F1 star George Russell baffled by British Grand Prix crash

George Russell at the Austrian Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

British Grand Prix

George Russell baffled by British Grand Prix crash

George Russell eventually qualified down in fourth

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 6 July 2026 13:55

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Mercedes F1 star George Russell has opened up on a 'weird' crash he had at the British Grand Prix for the first time in his career.

Russell entered the Silverstone weekend hoping to claim his maiden home grand prix victory, a win that would propel him right back into the fight with team-mate Kimi Antonelli for the drivers' championship.

Although he was unable to achieve that, the Brit has moved just 25 points behind his team-mate in the standings.

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However, his weekend at Silverstone did not get off to the best of starts on Saturday, finishing down in fourth in the sprint race before also qualifying fourth for the main race.

The grand prix qualifying session began in dramatic fashion for the Brit, crashing into the barriers in Q1.

It was a strange collision, with Russell appearing to lock up heading into turn seven, before his car slowly careered off into the gravel, gently kissing the tech pro barrier. The collision broke his front wing, but was so light that he was able to get going again, and easily cruised through Q1 in the end.

He may have been on the back foot, but Russell recovered to claim P4 for Sunday's main race at the British GP.

BRITISH GRAND PRIX: Final classification after Silverstone drama

Russell's 'weird' crash

Following the session, however, Russell revealed how the incident had caused him to change his setup heading into the rest of qualifying, describing his collision as 'weird'.

Turn seven is a slow-speed corner, and one that rarely sees that kind of incident, with Russell admitting that he's never made a mistake there throughout his entire career.

When asked after qualifying what caused his off, Russell told Sky F1: "I don't know. I've raced here for 12 years, and I've never locked up once in that corner before.

"So we made some changes to the setup. It was probably more extreme than before. I don't know what happened. It was weird."

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F1 Mercedes George Russell British Grand Prix