George Russell: Team error cost pole in Sao Paulo GP

George Russell disappointed

George Russell said he was 'really disappointed' as he insisted a 'misjudgement' by his Mercedes team cost him pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

“George Russell said he was "really disappointed" as he insisted a "misjudgement" by his Mercedes team cost him pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.”

Wet qualifying session

Russell drove impressively throughout a hugely-challenging wet qualifying session at Interlagos but missed pole by two tenths to McLaren's Lando Norris.

Team instruction to abort

Mercedes told Russell to abort his second run when held up by Williams driver Alex Albon during wet qualifying.

Rain intensified

Rain intensified moments after Russell was told to abort, preventing faster lap times for the remaining seven minutes of qualifying.

Russell's frustration

Russell reacted with fury over team radio, questioning the instruction to abort and insisting he would have beaten Norris' time.

Russell's explanation

Russell said he felt strong but was asked to back off because he caught up Albon, then rain came, making pole position unattainable.

Wolff's perspective

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said Russell wouldn't have beaten Norris on the aborted lap due to time lost behind Albon.

Russell's team blame

Russell insisted his race engineer Marcus Dudley and colleagues weren't responsible for the decision, as it was led by information they were seeing.

Pundits split on pole

Sky Sports pundits Karun Chandhok and Bernie Collins were split on whether Russell would have claimed pole had he completed the lap behind Albon.