It was a disappointing first day of running for Russell at his home pace, with the Brit qualifying in fifth for the sprint, behind Hamilton, Antonelli, Verstappen and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
He's now at risk of falling further behind Antonelli in the fight for the title, and being overtaken by Hamilton in the standings, and he said the difficult session was nothing new to him in 2026.
"It's kind of the story of the year, to be honest: always on the back foot," he said.
"Usually, come Q3, we can generally make a step; today, not quite the case. It was very close to P3, but still very much off the pace of Lewis and Kimi.
"So (I) need to try and understand why that is. A bit strange."
He was left especially baffled by the pace of Ferrari, who were expected to be significantly slower than the Mercedes challengers on the straights but ended up producing the fastest lap of the day courtesy of Hamilton.
"Very surprised, very surprised," he said.
"They've been on the back foot with the PU (power unit) and energy management, and here, they look the best at the moment, so that's been a real surprise.
"We've always known they've had a great chassis, but I think some things aren't quite making sense."