George Russell's X-rated comment about Hamilton over radio summed up concerns

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will go wheel-to-wheel on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix after tensions boiled over between the pair at last year's edition of the race
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will battle it out at the Spanish Grand Prix this Sunday afternoon after their tense encounter on the same track last season. Despite setting a lap time identical to Max Verstappen's on Saturday, Russell narrowly missed out on third place in qualifying.
Hot on his heels in fifth position will be his former Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, who will be racing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Ferrari colours for the first time. The seven-time F1 world champion managed to out-qualify his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who finished seventh behind Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes, for only the second time in nine grand prix sessions this season.
The prospect of Russell and Hamilton going wheel-to-wheel into the first right-hand turn is an exciting one, made even more so by the fact that Russell directed a colourful outburst at Hamilton over the team radio during last year's qualifying session in Spain.
In what was a disappointing season for the Silver Arrows at that point, tensions boiled over on the track during Q3. During the first of two runs in the final Q3 shoot-out, Russell found himself behind Hamilton on their preparation laps as they were kept informed of Alpine driver Esteban Ocon closing in on his flyer.
Russell was cautious not to impede Ocon in the final sector but looked to catch the Alpine's slipstream as he entered Barcelona's long main straight, which would offer a significant top-speed advantage. However, Hamilton had the same plan, waiting until the last moment to let Ocon pass without compromising his exit speed from the final corner too much.
The veteran's move left Russell frustrated as he vented over the team radio: 'What the f*** was Lewis doing, prepping that lap?" His race engineer attempted to diffuse the situation by responding: "He just... it's fine. We'll talk about it afterwards. Head in the game."
Russell would go on to downplay the incident after qualifying, telling Motorsport.com: "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.
"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."
Hamilton and Russell swiftly made amends and finished third and fourth respectively in Spain. Their relationship since, with Hamilton moving to Ferrari in January, has largely been one of mutual respect.
After a lacklustre start to the season with his new team, Hamilton is set to begin Sunday's grand prix in fifth place, equalling his best starting position this year.
He cut a frustrated figure on Friday as he described the SF-25 as "not driveable" but was in higher spirits after beating his team-mate in qualifying. Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "We fixed it for today and the car was much more drivable, much more enjoyable.
'We clearly made an improvement in qualifying to get into Q3 and be in the top five. I'm really happy with that."
While Russell sits in fourth position in the championship with 99 points, Hamilton trails behind in sixth place with 63 points. Oscar Piastri currently leads the drivers' standings and will start in pole position on Sunday, with his McLaren rival Lando Norris just behind him and looking to close the three-point gap in the championship race.