Lewis Hamilton was a picture of frustration after the Brazilian GP – but his Mercedes team-mate George Russell was the complete opposite.
Hamilton, 39, endured a miserable weekend in rainy Sao Paulo, finishing 11th in the sprint race and taking tenth position in the GP to leave South America with one singular point. Meanwhile, Russell enjoyed a positive weekend, taking sixth in the sprint race and then fourth in the GP.
While Russell left the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace feeling positive, Hamilton bemoaned the performance of his car yet again. The seven-time F1 world champions refused to completely slate his team, but he did admit the car was one of the worst he’s driven.
After the race, Hamilton blasted the car as “disastrous” and the “worst it has ever been”. Russell, however, appeared chirpier and told his team “thanks for your hard work for these last three weeks”.
Hamilton was courteous to his team in his post-race interview but did not hold back on the car itself. He said: “We were just slow.
“The car was really, really tough. I do really want to still say a big thank you to the guys in the garage. They turned up super early this morning and still did a great job throughout the weekend.
All those folks back at the factory I’m sure they will be feeling the pinch. At least one car was behaving OK that team could’ve won also today. The car is a plank of wood The car is a plank of wood. Not a single suspension, bouncing over the tyres all over and could not get any power anywhere.
This is the worst ride we have ever had especially through corners. Just so stiff. But hopefully we won’t have anymore bumpy tracks it was a interesting to see what some of the track layouts were like. I think the last three are not as bumpy as the first two. I could happily go and take a holiday.’
Whenever this one got a chance to talk to the media he appeared far from the state which his esteemed team-mate Russell was in. Russell did not move down the fourth place because of FIA decision to just fine Mercedes £4,200 ( €5000) after the race instead of manipulating GP results, with penalties against the two Brits.
The Silver Arrows were penalised for a change of tyre pressure during the probationary ten minutes to the race. Speaking after the race, Russell said: Of course we are a team and we would have been taking P4 going into the weekend already.
“We’ll go over it. It can be complicated to know what is coming next, everyone is trying hard and doing the best they can with the information they have.
“It’s normally the team’s decision when it is drying, ‘let’s go to slicks’ when it is getting wetter it is usually the driver who calls early for slicks to intermediate or intermediate to wet weather tires. I was pretty, well, I was very confident it was going to go Safety Car or a red flag, because it was like driving a boat.