George Russell was not impressed with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton at the Japanese Grand Prix.
George Russell attacked his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton during the Japanese Grand Prix after a controversial overtaking maneuver saw the driver pass the seven-time world champion. Both deflected to allow Russell to move to the net.
Hamilton made a mistake on lap 16, giving Russell the chance to pass him, which he did but not after forcing his teammate to join him off the track. Hamilton made a mistake on lap 16, giving Russell the chance to pass him, which he did but not after forcing his teammate to join him off the track.
Russell seemed unhappy with Hamilton’s anti-overtaking efforts, sending a clear message over the team radio:
“Who do we want to fight here, each other or the others?”
The incident was noted by race stewards in Japan, but no further investigation was carried out following the ruling that the race between Russell and Hamilton was fair.
Hamilton ran wide and caught up with Russell before being overtaken after a fierce battle that the young Briton consider unnecessary. He was clearly of the opinion that the duo should have saved their tires to compete with their rivals on the grid rather than against each other and should have been passed.
Russell briefly returned to second after several of those ahead of him elected to pit, but he quickly fell back down the order at a Japanese GP that neither of the two Silver Arrows pilots felt. feel confident. Ahead of a disappointing qualifying session in which Hamilton finished seventh, one place ahead of the Mercedes star, the 38-year-old admitted he had no chance of winning in Japan – before Max Verstappen took a strong lead on Sunday.
Both Hamilton and Russell were critical of the car during qualifying, as the senior driver said:
“Our car has a lot of load in the front and not as much as we need in the back. So we’re very far from achieving that and for me it’s 100% clear, it’s a concept and we need to make sure we “Let’s change that for next year, which we hope.” I did the best I could, I’m happy with my lap, it’s just they’re not as fast as other circuits.”
Russell later echoed his sentiments. “It’s a fair representation of how we find ourselves at circuits like this,” he said after qualifying eighth. “When there is a big contrast between the corners – high-speed corners and low-speed corners, we have difficulty resolving every aspect.”