Toto Wolff Explains Reason For Pace Gap Between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in Miami GP

Kimi Antonelli took pole for Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix. George Russell qualified fourth. The gap between them was small in terms of tenths, but it continued a pattern that’s been building across this entire Miami weekend: one driver entirely at home on the smooth asphalt of the Hard Rock Stadium circuit, the other fighting the surface from the moment he arrived.

Antonelli put in the lap that mattered when it counted in Q3, surging to the front in the closing exchanges. Russell headed out first for a second run but couldn’t improve, leaving him a row behind his teammate as Antonelli held onto pole by a tenth and a half over Max Verstappen.

Toto Wolff gave an explanation for the gap between his drivers:

“George said to me he’s struggled with certain tracks. Here, the asphalt is very smooth,” Wolff said. “It’s almost like a [tennis] player that is good on clay, and another on hard surface.”

Russell himself pointed to the driving as the root cause rather than setup, adding that technique places the tyres in different thermal windows and that Antonelli, from the first lap of the weekend, had simply been on another level compared to his own season form.

Starting on the back foot after the Sprint made recovery harder, with Russell never getting his front end to respond in the middle sector throughout the weekend.

Russell admitted that Miami’s unusually low grip means the cars are sliding around for everyone, McLarens included, but conceded it’s a venue he has never clicked with, and one where his teammate clearly excels.