George Russell was beaten to pole for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix by Lando Norris; Russell believes Mercedes’ instruction for him to abort a flying lap cost him pole; Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player George Russell said he was “really disappointed” as he insisted a “misjudgement” by his Mercedes team had cost him pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Russell drove impressively throughout a hugely-challenging wet qualifying session at Interlagos but ultimately missed out on pole position by two tenths to McLaren’s Lando Norris. The Mercedes driver had led Norris by four tenths of a second after their first runs in Q3, but was then told to abort his second run when he was being held up by the Williams of Alex Albon. Mercedes thought that Russell would have time to complete another push lap, but the rain intensified moments later and prevented anyone from going faster for the seven minutes of the session that remained.
Russell reacted with fury over team radio, questioning the instruction for him to abort and insisting that regardless of the time he was losing behind Albon, he would have been able to better Norris’ time. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player As Russell is serving a five-place grid penalty in Brazil for taking a new internal combustion engine, he would not have started from pole in any case, and will now begin Sunday’s race in seventh. “I think it was just a bit of miscommunication,” Russell said. “I need to speak with the team because we believed we’d get another lap before the rain came in.
“So, I was on a really strong lap and I was asked to back off because I caught up Albon, and then obviously the rain came. “So, yeah, it was very disappointing. I need to understand how it happened and why we got that wrong. “But I felt very strong, the whole session.
Similar to Lando, I had more confidence in the wet than I had in the dry. But yeah, I definitely felt pole was there for the taking.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Asked whether he considered overriding the instruction to abort his lap, Russell added: “They’ve got the weather forecast in front of them and I don’t. And this is where you need that trust and you’re relying on one another. “Obviously, it was the wrong decision, and it was a decision that I think, as soon as it was made, I think we knew it was the wrong one because already they could actually feel the rain pouring harder.” Despite his clear frustration, Russell insisted his race engineer Marcus Dudley, along with other colleagues, weren’t necessary responsible given the decision would have been led by the information they were seeing.
“We need to understand, we’re relying on a lot of systems. We can’t point the finger at somebody,” Russell said. “We need to understand why we made that decision and were our systems telling us what we needed to know because you’re relying on the radar. “But it doesn’t make it any less frustrating for me.
It’s not my engineer’s fault. He’s relaying information. “He’s ultimately the one who passes the message on. But he’s got 12 people talking to him, giving him that information to relay on, so we just need to understand why we made that decision.” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he didn’t think Russell would have been able to beat Norris to pole on the aborted lap due to the time his driver was losing behind Albon.
“If we were to have a crystal ball to know whether you should back off or not, that would be helpful,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. “It was a difficult one, a 50-50 call. He was running into Albon. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player “He was 18 milliseconds up on Norris at that stage.
I don’t think it would have been enough for pole, but he drove perfectly all session and merited to be on pole. “He deserved it but you can’t make that call. It’s 50 per cent right or wrong. George was in a league of his own today.” Russell’s frustrations follow his team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who qualified third, being crowned world champion at last weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix.
The Brit was excused from his media duties after the race in Mexico as Wolff described him as “distraught”, with Russell revealing in Brazil that he had found the situation hard to deal with, especially after a technical issue saw him drop back from second on the grid on the opening lap. As Russell expressed his anger at the instruction to abort the lap in Brazil, Wolff came on the radio in an apparent attempt to diffuse the situation as he told his driver second was a strong result. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Asked for his feelings on Wolff’s radio communication with him, Russell said he understood that the Austrian was attempting to protect the wider morale of the team. “When you’re a driver, you’re the one who feels it the most,” Russell said.
“And going back to his (Wolff’s) leadership skills, we’ve got to remember, we collectively made a misjudgement today, and there’s members of my team who are going to be feeling as bad as I am currently. “So, it’s important to remember that and we need to just keep the morale high. “It was a very solid performance, and I guess we take the positive from that. There are no points for a pole, but it would have just been a nice little one to add to the tally.” Sky Sports pundits Karun Chandhok and Bernie Collins were split on whether Russell would have claimed pole had he completed the lap behind Albon.
Chandhok said: “In George’s mind, he felt like he should have carried on. “I don’t think he would have beaten Lando to be honest. He was so close to Alex and would have had to follow him. I don’t know if he would have got pole.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player “I can see the frustration but personally, I think he would have lost more time being stuck behind Albon and I don’t think he would have beaten Lando.” But Collins said: “I can see why he’s disappointed. “I think he would have been on pole on that second lap because his fastest first and second sector, with Albon’s fastest third sector is enough for pole. “His middle sector on that lap was actually seven tenths up.” Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Sunday November 83.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Sao Paulo GP build-up5pm: THE SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX7pm: Chequered Flag: Sao Paulo GP reaction8pm: Ted’s Notebook Formula 1 is in Brazil for the final leg of the triple header with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1.
