“What the hell was Lewis doing?!” George Russell lashes out at Lewis Hamilton over Q3 run at Spanish GP

George Russell was unhappy with Lewis Hamilton's preparations during the Q3 qualifying session for the Spanish GP.

“What the hell was Lewis doing?!” George Russell lashes out at Lewis Hamilton over Q3 run at Spanish GP

Lewis Hamilton [L] George Russell [R] (images via IMAGO)

The Mercedes crew has been trying to score a comeback from the disappointing start to the 2024 season. The Silver Arrows drivers, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have failed to score any impressive results. Meanwhile, the rival teams have scored a much better start to the campaign. However, during the Spanish GP, Russell took to team radio during the Q3 qualifying session to showcase his discontent with Hamilton’s garage strategy.

Lewis Hamilton is continuously being outscored by George Russell on a majority of occasions. However, the 39-year-old is seemingly having a great time around the Barcelonan circuit of the Spanish GP. The seven-time world champion’s setup in the practice session allowed him to top the session with a great lap time. Hence, Hamilton was prepping his car for the final Q3 session which upset Russell.

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The 26-year-old took to team radio lashing out at Hamilton over the preparations for the Q3 session. Russell also hurled some abuses towards the 39-year-old and further questioned what the former world champion was doing. Lewis Hamilton needs to start scoring better results to take control of his position in the drivers’ championship. Hence, the Englishman needs to showcase his A-game at the Spanish GP.

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What the f*** was Lewis doing prepping that lap?
George Russell said on his team radio.

George Russell had claimed it was ‘encouraging’ to see Lewis Hamilton top practice session

The Spanish GP was a great shift of pace for the struggling Mercedes crew. The practice sessions and qualifying sessions showcased a great improvement in performance for the team. Hence, the 26-year-old had previously mentioned his contentment with Hamilton’s performance in the practice session. Additionally, Russell highlighted that the W15 car had started to feel strong compared to the season’s start.

It was encouraging to see Lewis top of the timesheets and we were consistently at the front. Our long run pace in FP1 was competitive. In FP2, it seemed that our single lap pace was slightly stronger than our long run speed but overall, the car is feeling strong.
George Russell said, as reported by mirror.co.uk.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton (via IMAGO)

Apart from this, Russell reckoned that the team had made great progress after bringing in upgrades from the Monaco GP. Additionally, the W15 performing well around the high-speed corners further encouraged the 26-year-old to perform better. Subsequently, the Briton claimed that the single-lap pace from Mercedes’ challenger looked competitive and close to the rival teams.

We made a step forward with the updates we brought to Monaco and Montreal, but it's been encouraging to see that the car is working well around a track with plenty of high-speed corners. Our single lap pace looks competitive and quite close with several other teams.
George Russell added.

Mercedes has lost a lot of points in the constructors’ championship against the rival teams. Hence, the German carmaker has declining chances of scoring a late-season comeback with the Silver Arrows. However, Brackley will continue to fight down the season to potentially improve their position towards the end of the 2024 season.

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