Russell fumes after Mercedes call costs Sao Paulo pole

George Russell was frustrated after Mercedes told him to abort a Q3 lap in Sao Paulo qualifying, which he believed was good enough for pole position. Lando Norris took pole, 0.204 seconds ahead of Russell, after a rain delay of around 90 minutes. Russell was told by his engineer, Marcus Dudley, to abort the lap after running into the Williams of Alex Albon in the middle sector.

Over the radio Russell expressed his anger, with Toto Wolff intervening. Reflecting after leaving the car, Russell said aborting had been a misjudgment and that the team should have finished the lap, with rain approaching. He is set to drop to seventh after a five-place grid penalty for a new ICE component.

Russell said he felt more confident in the car in the wet than in the dry, adding: "I felt more like myself, in the fight for pole every single lap, but unfortunately when it mattered, we didn't execute."