George Russell showcased his personality as a team player at Mercedes during qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The 25-year-old was left swearing in the cockpit after discovering that team-mate Lewis Hamilton had been eliminated during the second phase of the session.
Mercedes showed better performance throughout the early stages of the weekend, which was crucial for the team following a miserable weekend in Brazil last time out. The Silver Arrows’ lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship was cut to just 20 points off the back of that dismal showing at Interlagos.
That lead could now be trimmed even further after Charles Leclerc secured a dominant pole position ahead of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz on Saturday. The only saving grace for Mercedes is that the latter will serve a ten-place grid penalty for taking a new power unit after an unfortunate incident in FP1.
At the end of Q2, Russell came onto the team radio to ask: “Where’s Lewis?” When he was informed that his team-mate had slipped down to 11th place and therefore had been eliminated, he sharply replied: “F***”.
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Hamilton was also frustrated after his early qualifying exit. The seven-time world champion confessed after his Q2 elimination that he “couldn’t go faster”. This is the 38-year-old’s third Q2 exit of the season following disappointing showings in both Miami and Zandvoort.
There was, at least, something to celebrate for Toto Wolff and the team in the Mercedes garage. Russell’s session was well-executed and he followed up a P3 finish in Q2 by qualifying fourth on the grid in Q3. He’ll be bumped up to third for the race start thanks to Sainz’s impending penalty.
Despite this saving grace, the mood in the Mercedes camp remains glum. Discussing his team’s pace with Sky Sports F1, team principal Wolff stated: “It remains a mystery. Having the tyres in the right window.
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“You can see the difference. We already saw that in Free Practice 3. Very difficult to understand. Lewis didn’t have any more grip. We are taking about four or five degrees temperature in difference between grip and no grip.
“You can see that some teams, like McLaren, they are normally at the front but are out in Q1. On the other side, the Ferraris put in stunning laps. Both of them half a second ahead of everyone else.”
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