BARCELONA, June 13 (Reuters) - George Russell seized pole position for a race that could snap teammate Kimi Antonelli's winning streak while Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton split the Mercedes pair in Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
Italian Antonelli, who will be seeking his sixth win in a row on Sunday to extend what is currently a 66-point lead over seven-times world champion Hamilton, qualified third with McLaren's world champion Lando Norris fourth.
Mercedes have taken pole for all seven F1 races so far in 2026, and Saturday was Russell's third of the season to 19-year-old Antonelli's four, in a morale boost for the Briton as he seeks to bounce back from two races without scoring.
The team are unbeaten in regular grands prix this campaign.
"Nice to feel in the groove again," said Russell over the team radio after lapping 0.064 of a second quicker than compatriot Hamilton for a 10th career pole ahead of what will be his 100th grand prix for Mercedes.
"It's been a great weekend so far. I feel like my old self again where every lap I'm doing the job, always fighting in those top positions," he added later.
"The last few races for numerous reasons haven't quite been on our side but I came in this weekend with a clean slate, felt good and it's great to be on pole."
LECLERC 'ASHAMED' AFTER SUFFERING ANOTHER CRASH
The final phase of qualifying was briefly halted after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed into the tyre wall at turn four.
Leclerc clambered out and walked away after his third crash in eight days, with incidents in both qualifying and the race at his home Monaco Grand Prix last weekend.
The Monegasque blamed himself, offering no excuses and saying he felt ashamed.
He will start 10th, unless changes to the engine and gearbox are required.
Hamilton was fastest in the first phase of qualifying, ahead of Russell and Leclerc, and will be chasing his first win since 2024 and first for Ferrari after finishing runner-up in the last two races.
"The Mercedes guys did a good lap and congrats to George, but we are in a good a position to be able to fight tomorrow. We have a race," said the 40-year-old, who had looked like taking a first pole in nearly three years but lost time towards the end of his lap.
Antonelli, who won from pole in Monaco, briefly went top with his final effort before Russell and then Hamilton found more speed.
"It's been a little bit of a difficult weekend so far. I didn't really have the feeling with the car," said the teenager.
The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar qualified fifth and sixth, with Oscar Piastri, last year's winner from pole, seventh for McLaren who had looked quick on Friday.
"I think we've taken steps forward. We brought some little parts that seem to have helped fractionally and at the minute fractions of a second can make a difference," said Norris, who felt a win remained out of reach.
"I think it's nice that we could bounce back after a disappointing weekend (in Monaco), but we were three-and-a-half tenths off pole and that's a big amount."
ALONSO TO LINE UP LAST
The pole for Mercedes also tied Ferrari's record of 256 by a power unit manufacturer.
Russell will actually be starting from the top slot for the 11th time but, by a statistical quirk, the Sao Paulo 2022 pole went to Haas's Kevin Magnussen even if the Dane did not start from the front.
Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson will start in eighth place with Nico Hulkenberg ninth for Audi.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso qualified last for Aston Martin ahead of what is likely his final Barcelona appearance, with the race off the calendar next year and the 44-year-old Spaniard out of contract at the end of the season.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Clare Fallon and Pritha Sarkar)
