Russell Explains 'What The F***' Radio Directed At Hamilton From Qualifying

Saturday, 22 June 2024 at 21:18

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George Russell explained the "hot-headed" radio message directed at his teammate during Q3 of the qualifying session in Barcelona.

The two Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, qualified in P3 and P4, respectively, for the 10th round of the season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

While Silver Arrow's final result was pretty satisfying, it wasn't all smooth sailing during the qualifying session. After the first run in Q3, George Russell came on the radio and said: "What the f*** was Lewis doing prepping that lap?"

The 26-year-old then received a response from his engineer stating that it was fine and that it would be looked at after the session. But what exactly happened? Russell himself explained:

"Lewis was quite a long way ahead of me, but we both had our eyes on the same driver for the slipstream for opening the lap."

"So I was focusing on my mirrors not to impede Ocon, and next thing I looked up, and Lewis was right in front of me trying to take the tow from Ocon; at the moment when you're trying to get everything, you're a bit hot-headed, but nothing gained nothing lost."

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Can Mercedes challenge for the win?

Starting from P3 and P4, Hamilton and Russell have a strategic advantage over Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, who don't have their teammates nearby to help.

The seven-time World Champion suggested the two drivers in front (Verstappen and Norris) might be faster and he hoped Mercedes as a team could try and counter that strategically. Russell added:

"I think on a circuit like this, the pace of the car will always win out. I think strategically, there's such high tire degradation."

"You can do some things with the strategy, but ultimately, if you’ve got one-tenth of pace in the car, that will also win out over doing something a bit different."