Formula 1: George Russell’s historic streak intact despite scare

George Russell had been a perfect 38 for 38 outqualifying his Williams Formula 1 teammates prior to Saturday’s qualifying session at Imola.

Williams were far more impressive than many had anticipated in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the second of 23 races on the record-breaking 2021 Formula 1 schedule.

Both George Russell and Nicholas Latifi advanced out of Q1 and into Q2 with solid lap times around the 21-turn, 3.05-mile (4.908-kilometer) road course in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

In fact, Latifi was even quicker than Russell, who entered this race having beaten his teammate in all 17 qualifying battles they have had with one another since becoming teammates ahead of the 2020 season.

The 23-year-old Briton entered the weekend 38 for 38 in terms of outqualifying his Williams teammates.

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But Latifi advanced out of Q1 from 12th place, and Russell did so from 14th. However, this didn’t mean that Russell’s streak was over, as they still had to duel it out on the second of three rounds of qualifying, and that they did. They swapped places, with Russell qualifying in 12th ahead of Latifi in 14th.

So Russell is now 39 for 39 in terms of outqualifying his Williams teammates, including 18 for 18 over Latifi. He went 21 for 21 against Robert Kubica in his rookie season back in 2019. His only career teammate qualifying loss came ahead of last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit when he filled in for Lewis Hamilton, who had tested positive for COVID-19, at Mercedes. He barely lost out on the pole position to teammate Valtteri Bottas.

The all-time record for most consecutive teammate qualifying battles won at any point in a Formula 1 career is 56 (1992 to 1995), set by 91-time Grand Prix winner and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. 41-time Grand Prix winner and three-time world champion Ayrton Senna ranks second on that list with 44 (1985 and 1988).

Because of when Russell lost out to Bottas, he is technically tied for Nelson Piquet for third place on the all-time list with 36, although Russell’s 36 straight to start his Formula 1 career is by far an all-time record, well ahead of even Schumacher and Senna.

Meanwhile, elsewhere throughout the field for the 2021’s second race, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was outqualified by teammate Esteban Ocon, ending his 27-race streak of outqualifying his teammates. Alonso was eliminated in Q2 and qualified in 15th place while Ocon advanced to Q3 and qualified in ninth.

The 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit was the last race for which the two-time world champion qualified behind a teammate (Stoffel Vandoorne); he retired after the end of the 2018 season and only returned ahead of the 2021 season after two years away.

Additionally, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was outqualified by teammate Sergio Perez, ending his 25-race streak of outqualifying his teammates. He qualified in third place behind Perez in second.

The 2019 Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza was the last race for which he qualified behind a teammate (Alexander Albon), and he didn’t actually record a lap time in the qualifying session for this race.

Haas rookie Mick Schumacher outqualified rookie teammate Nikita Mazepin for the second time in two attempts. It’s a longshot, but he technically still has a chance to break his father’s record, especially given the situations with his current team, current contract and current teammate.

Tomorrow’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is set to be broadcast live on ESPN from Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.