While Charles Leclerc was unable to repeat his session-topping Q2 time, clearing the way for Max Verstappen to grab pole position, Russell led the Mercedes charge by running third fastest.
Verstappen clocked a 1m29.179s effort aboard his Red Bull, with Russell crossing the line 0.306s down. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, will start from ninth on the grid.
Russell heralded the Silver Arrows for having made significant progress with its qualifying performance thanks to the simulator work completed following the pre-season test.
Giving credit to the mileage put in by the simulator drivers – with the Mercedes line-up led by Frederik Vesti, Mick Schumacher and Anthony Davidson – Russell said: “We've had some really great drivers back at base doing the work in the simulator.
“Lewis and I have been back on the simulator as well, fine-tuning the set-up, making some improvements.
“We've obviously made a big step forward in single-lap – in the qualifying pace. We hope we haven't compromised the race pace at all. I think it'll be a close fight between everybody… other than Max.”
Source: Autosport