© Sam Bloxham for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
George Russell explains what led to him saying “What the f*** was Lewis doing prepping that lap?” in Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying.
At one point during Q3 of Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying, George Russell went on the team radio and said:
“What the f*** was Lewis doing prepping that lap?”
The team then responded with:
“He just… It’s fine, we’ll talk about it afterwards. Head in the game.”
The outburst was a result of a misunderstanding during Mercedes’ outlaps in Q3. Russell, who was positioned behind Hamilton, intended to let Esteban Ocon get ahead of him, so that he could then get his slipstream.
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However, Lewis was also positioning himself to maximize his exit speed from the final corner, which prevented Russell from executing his plan.
“Lewis was quite a long way ahead of me, but I think we both had our eyes on the same driver for a slipstream opening the lap,” George explained afterwards.
“I was just focusing on my mirrors not to impede Ocon and next time I looked it up Lewis was right in front of me trying to take the tow from Ocon.
“Obviously, we’re in the moment and when you’re trying to get everything [right], you’re a bit hotheaded.
“But nothing gained, nothing lost and there was nothing more to it,”the Briton concluded.
