It’s official, George Russell and his Mercedes team have been reprimanded in Barcelona. George Russell and Mercedes were reprimanded at the end of Saturday’s qualifying session after the British driver made contact with team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s car on track.
In Q2 at Barcelona on Saturday, George Russell made fairly violent contact with team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s car. The two Mercedes were side-by-side on the start/finish straight and made contact on the side, with the wing of Hamilton’s car being damaged as a result.
Russell was placed under investigation by the race stewards at the Spanish Grand Prix, but in the end received a simple reprimand, as did his team, with the stewards pointing out that the driver should have looked in his mirrors while his team failed to inform him of his team-mate’s presence just behind him.
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Spanish GP grid
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen took pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday with a time of 1.12.272. The Dutchman was four tenths ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and five tenths ahead of Lando Norris’s McLaren.
Behind him, Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri complete the top ten on the provisional grid for the Spanish Grand Prix.
| Driver | Team |
|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| Carlos Sainz | Ferrari |
| Lando Norris | McLaren |
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
| Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| Esteban Ocon | Alpine |
| Nico Hülkenberg | Haas |
| Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| Oscar Piastri | McLaren |
| Pierre Gasly (+6P) | Alpine |
| Sergio Perez | Red Bull |
| George Russell | Mercedes |
| Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo |
| Nyck de Vries | AlphaTauri |
| Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri |
| Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo |
| Kevin Magnussen | Haas |
| Alex Albon | Williams |
| Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| Logan Sargeant | Williams |
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Insider highlights problems at Ferrari
Poor Mercedes communication
“I don’t really know what happened during the incident with Lewis. It was all quite surprising. I was starting my push lap and I was taking the slipstream from Sainz at the front,” explained Russell after the qualifying session in which he finished twelfth.
“The next thing I know, Lewis was on my side. We’re lucky nothing more serious happened and it was clearly a big miscommunication from all of us in the team.”
“It didn’t help the lack of pace though and that was the main problem for me. We’re starting quite a few positions lower than we should be, but I’m sure tomorrow will be a better day.”
Ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, George Russell is fifth in the Drivers’ World Championship, 19 points behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton. To see the full starting grid for the Spanish Grand Prix, click here.
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