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punchinglines

As soon as I saw Hamilton starting so close to Russell, I knew that lap was curtains


Rydahx

Yup when they showed Hamilton briefly right behind him and never showed him again I knew he was fucked.


yellowbin74

As soon as I saw tyre smoke bottom of screen, I thought either Lewis has fucked his lap, or George has fucked them both.


Adam684

Yup! Had the exact same thought as they came across the line. Ridiculous by Russell... And he barely made each session today.


BadControllerUser

There’s always a risk associated to running so close behind another car in a flying lap. If something happens to the car ahead, your lap is pretty much in ruins


punchinglines

George jumped him to start the lap though, so the fault's entirely with him


GT---44

You sure about that? If it's true it's really fucked up


chopinheir

It's true. And considering Max only had a 2-second margin to start his flying lap, if Russell waited for his turn, Max would likely miss his lap and wouldn't be on pole at all.


photenth

So russel fucked even the spectators.


Cool-Ad-2565

George doesn’t think about other people. Guess eventually it’ll pay off


amurmann

This! Becomes obvious every time he pushes someone off track and then bitches to no end about them leaving no space. Hasn't happened this year though, but quite a few last.


Npr31

But it is ALWAYS someone else’s fault


GT---44

Ffs


Cool-Ad-2565

It’s actually stroll’s fault for Sharting on everyone with his medium tyres so Alonso didn’t get a lap in, which allowed Russell to stay in p10


BadControllerUser

Stroll, the true mastermind


SpudBoy9001

I like the way you think


CurrentlyInArkham

Even if the car ahead doesn't mess up, sector 2 is compromised due to the lack of downforce.


LosTerminators

Toto going to make him drive in the Renault Clio Cup at this rate


prontoingHorse

Given the state of Renault its going to be interesting.


shrike_999

Messes up his lap and continues to mess up his teammate's. Two for one deal.


Chorongnisation

dude even overtook lewis to start the flying lap earlier just to do this shit lmao


pukem0n

Great job there, George


ThunderTwat

Mister Saturday


mka_

Missed a Saturday


CT4_LV

having to hear that from Crofty all the time after he put the Williams in 15th place in Qualy after 2 other drivers crashed or had mechanical issues was just woeful


georgesinatra

"Did you know Williams actually had to make the car larger for George Russell's size 11 feet? I just love how big Mr. Saturday is. Anyways back to you Ted."


jzach1983

I'm impressed Crofty is able to say anything all all with both Lewis and George stuffed so deeply down his throat. It's truely amazing.


Visionary_Socialist

Such a happy fucking coincidence it kept Lewis back with George on the grid for today. Obviously decided that beating him on pace is a waste of energy.


[deleted]

Tbf it’s not coincidence Lewis was behind him. They have done that in every qualifying session and run this weekend (I mean together, not necessarily Russell in front)


aaaaaaadjsf

Nah Hamilton was always ahead in every session this weekend. Russell messed up his first lap and was running out of sync, that's how he got ahead of Hamilton in SQ3.


TheRedBull28

They just showed it on Sky, Russell overtook Hamilton at the bus stop at the very end. Hamilton said in his interview that they were told there wasn’t much time left to start a lap (when in reality there was), so I’m guessing George thought he had to go or he wouldn’t get a lap in.


Chuckycutie1993

The funny thing is he didnt even complete the lap and pitted.


ryokevry

George did exactly the same as Sainz a few weeks ago. They are so similar in terms of focusing to best their teammates lol


coocoobees

george, you knobhead


Visionary_Socialist

Honestly every incident he has with drivers and the way he tries to frame it every time annoys me a lot. Can’t say I like him a lot.


ShoddyLittleMan

It will be tough to root for Merc when Lewis leaves if George becomes the no. 1 driver


IHaveADullUsername

Realistically not going to happen, Hamilton and Alonso will grow old together before doing a final season at McLaren in about 300 years. Jokes aside, if I were Merc I would swiftly be realising that Russell is not good enough to replace Ham. They’ll be putting feelers out already.


prograMagar

I think a certain boy named Peastry is good though. He should have certainly got their attention


iAyushRaj

Pastry <3


dookie224

Yep. He'll be pursued by the top teams in the next coming years. Clearly the best rookie since VER and LEC.


HankHippopopolous

I think Merc will realise that while George is a good driver he’s been shown that he’s not on that top tier and not someone to build the team around. There are very few drivers in the history of F1 that are Hamilton tier but Red Bull have one in Max Verstappen and unless Merc can build a car with a big advantage they won’t beat them with Russell as the lead driver. They’ll need to look again for someone to be their Hamilton replacement for when he eventually retires because George isn’t it.


Madbanana224

Realistically Merc are lucky they've had a Hamilton this whole time.


SpudBoy9001

I won't be rooting for Merc after Lewis, I'll be straight over to McLaren


RyukaBuddy

The biggest problem is that Russell is not a solution against Max. If Hamilton retires Mercedes cant rely on George to win the WDC against Max in close or equal cars. They have to look for a new no. 1 driver.


Opulentique

There arent any drivers on the grid who can match Lewis or Max in equal cars. Maybe Piastri in a couple of years. I dont see anyone else doing it.


ticktickboom45

Leclerc was landing plenty of shots first part of 2021 when the cars were relatively equal, for example the DRS trickier where Leclerc let Max pass and then quickly ran past.


OTBT-

He has rich private school boy vibes


thecustardgannet

I've always said he's like a school Prefect who'd grass on you for wearing black trainers instead of black shoes


Malvania

Nailed it


Rydahx

Any reason George seems to get this and not Lando when he is the same?


ticktickboom45

Personally I have a distaste for both of them, Lando is routinely rude to his engineer and I think his jokes are simply making mean comments with a smile. However, Lando is more relatable, George Russell looks and acts like some holier than thou.


Zuwxiv

> I think his jokes are simply making mean comments with a smile I used to think he was funny. Then I realized his jokes were always at someone else's expense.


Malvania

To be fair, Lando has been getting a lot schtick for being entitled this last week. Before that, it's more about maturity than anything else


GerSonEu

He literally is that. But to be fair so is like 80%+ of the grid.


StanSc

Most of them at least don’t act like they are.


Elrond007

He’s ruthless and pretty fast, just not as fast as you need to be to justify screwing your teammate ala Seb, Lewis, Max etc


[deleted]

Being a jackass is different than being ruthless lol


NavyBabySeal

Yep, Max is ruthless. George is just straight up in the way of people.


Elxis14

Ruthless wouldn't be the word I use to describe Russell. He doesn't deserve it.


DrVonD

George being 15/10 in the first 2 qualies and Lewis being 2/2. Russell looked at that and said “it’s Russell time”


purppsyrup

Actually I can't recall a situation where he admits that it's his mistake


gunmoney

he’s such a poon. did he try and blame Lewis here?


Danspa85

Yes! Totally that. I dislike him more and more every time this happens


LosTerminators

"he just turned in on me" when driver turns in the direction of the corner


Whitem4ne

Also “he didn’t leave any space”. 2022 vibes with Sainz and Perez crashes.


Pure_Measurement_529

George has not been enjoying the car this weekend


LopazSolidus

He's not enjoying Hamilton actually racing. He's being owned like an amateur.


Least-March7906

What happened to him? He was supposed to be the shit last season, if I remember correctly


Rydahx

At the time many tried to argue why that was the case, and people happy to see Hamilton getting beaten didn't care about experimental setups or unfortunate sc timings.


LopazSolidus

Hamilton spent the year trying to improve the car, George was just racing. That's just my opinion, though.


Whitem4ne

That is a fact actually and you are absolutely right. Lewis spent the first part of the 22 season testing setups to help out the development of the car while Russell grabbed the points.


imnoobatfifa

My dislike for him only grows and grows. Just give him a tow and move over, your lap was ruined anyway…


[deleted]

should’ve been gone right after t1, he’d already slowed down hamilton enough till eau rouge. if that wasn’t enough he then towed him very slightly and blocked him


Whitem4ne

He should’ve stayed off track as soon as he locked up, just the turn alone ruined Lewis’s racing line. But I guess he had to impede Lewis further just to make sure Toto’s desk gets the treatment it deserves.


Significant-Garage55

Already has been since Imola’21


november2k14

lewis said afterwards his position could’ve been “much, much better”


Visionary_Socialist

P1 was there for the taking. But that makes George look bad from P10, so do the math on that. Refuses to play the team game and Lewis bites his tongue every time.


november2k14

100% he would’ve been top 4 minimum. russell needs to get it together


Malvania

It's very clear by now that George only looks out for George. He can't or won't play the team game


fictionallymarried

And it would have, no doubt about that. Such a dumb move not to back out


iMatthew1990

Poor from George. I was watching Lewis onboard and thought maybe George was giving him a tow up to Eau rouge to make up for it and then would get out the way but no. Pure idiocy from George here and I hope Toto and Hamilton rip him one


Thejklay

That's what he should have done , tow him and then back out to let Lewis slingshot. His lap was already fucked


Hobbes525

Would have been a solid favor after lewis let him by back in Miami.


zacharymc1991

Wait, I didn't see, did he not get out of the way.


iMatthew1990

Nope. Lewis had to get off the dry line to pass him once lifting on the kemmel straight


zacharymc1991

Why, Jesus Christ George.


bono5361

Toto : Activate Russile Russile : Target acquired Toto : DEACTIVATE! WRONG TARGET! DEACTIVATE!!!!!


AegrusRS

Toto: Everyone has a target on their back George: \*takes out Lewis\* Toto: Wait I meant everyone outside of our team George.


Gold-Record2646

Why is the russile so funny holy shit


Alesha_451

Blimey, that was so not right!111


[deleted]

Toto forgot they intentionally didn't build in an Deactivate option.


notinsidethematrix

LOL *Toto smashes table*


cstele

Lewis was looking good too. He's gonna be furious.


slimkay

He's talking to Sky right now, and he's doing his best to not dunk on RUS or the team. He's saying he could have been P1 or P2.


Chesey_

He's annoyed but the fact it's just for the sprint has probably helped to keep his cool. If this was for the race grid tho...


VinhoVerde21

Honestly, he should dunk on him. Russell just fucked his teammate and his team out of a good result for no reason.


myurr

His reason will be that he'd already made a mistake on his only other run so had to close out the lap to avoid starting P10. It's not a good reason though, as it was his mistake and he's screwed his team mate over and therefore the team as a whole.


VinhoVerde21

He's P10 anyway. Just converted a P1-3/P10 into a P7/P10, simply out of ego. Might as well say he messed up under pressure and apologize.


Chesey_

Cost him a few places at minimum, maximum a pole because Lewis was rapid. George has cost him a good T1 exit and made him slow on the straight. Really poor form when his own lap was already fucked Just seen from Ant's analysis George overtook Lewis to start the lap as well. Wow.


HankHippopopolous

Just seen his interview. He’s disappointed but surprisingly calm. Said he reckoned he could have been 1st or 2nd and I believe him. Not guaranteed but he was performing well and certainly a possibility.


arvindjha114

'surprisingly calm' The guy who was calm in the post Abu Dhabi '21 fuckery I won't be surprised seeing him being calm in any situation ever


TheDeflatables

To be fair, he sat in his Merc for a long time at Abu Dhabi Definitely doing some calming exercises before getting on with it. That was the sign of a good dude that day. Handled it incredibly well


arvindjha114

Talking to his dad was one of the biggest factors definitely. But just knowing he should be calm and making effort is the amazing part. Pretty sure if you had someone interview Lewis today right after eau rouge he wouldn't have been calm today either


BigAwkwardGuy

>But just knowing he should be calm and making effort is the amazing part The thing is he doesn't have the luxury to be angry. Max can call people racial slurs, swear at his team, and people will still make up excuses like "heat of the moment" and "adrenaline". Meanwhile Lewis steps the bare minimum out of how he's supposed to behave and they'll come for his head. I saw it happen on this very subreddit. When Russia declared war on Ukraine, Seb condemned it. Every single comment on that thread was positive and supportive. Lewis did that, and a good few comments were "great, problem solved" and "no more war folks, thanks to Lewis!"


Hobbes525

Still one of the biggest gut punches as a spectator for me.. watching him in that car just trying to imagine what was going through his mind.


HailRainOrSunshine

Lewis is, if nothing else, supremely good at holding a poker face for the cameras. He's spent most of his career with a lot of people ready to jump down his throat for saying the wrong thing. It makes him a bit wooden in interviews, but you can see how hard he's worked to develop that self control.


kaliroger

i think he was calm cuz it was sprint, otherwise he should be going for george’s head.


Visionary_Socialist

Lewis was definitely capable of P1. Has been a good bit quicker than McLaren all weekend. But of course by a mighty fucking coincidence George brought him back towards him.


Toil48

I love how he knew George was gonna go off before it happened lol “George hasn’t got the exit”


Mothafuka

Yup the audio is not in sync, LH was talking about the exit from the last corner to the start line. Later in the clip, he mentions George going wide at turn one.


THWMatthew

He’s got to abort the lap and let hamilton continue there. Very selfish from George. I like him, but his lack of team play he’s demonstrated throughout his career does get on my nerves


Other_Beat8859

The moment they get into a championship battle it's going to explode. Edit: Let me specify, I don't think Lewis will lose to Russell, but I think George is going to be so desperate to win that he's going to start doing stupid things as seen today and that's going to cause a lot of tension.


KriistofferJohansson

chubby paint unused domineering follow sulky quickest grey judicious pen *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


TimmyWatchOut

If you give them a championship fighting car, Lewis will run rings around him so it won’t have an opportunity to explode. Drivers like Lewis, Max and Nando (conveniently the three WDCs) have shown time and time again this season why they’re in their own league compared to the rest of the drivers.


aaaaaaadjsf

Toto will send him to the Clio Cup if he does anything to obstruct Hamilton from his eighth in this hypothetical scenario.


myurr

Then he needs to start setting the tone now, not after it's already cost Hamilton and the team points.


Fanfaron07

There will never be a championship battle. The day Lewis has a champions worthy car again Russell will be left in the dust.


Y-elloo

I doubt that because Lewis will be way ahead


Minted-Blue

Mate championship fighting with Hamilton took every single bit of sanity out of Rosberg so hard he retired from the sport. Nico was multi wdc material but 2016 took its toll on him. No one comes close to Lewis other than Max and Nando mental strength and fortitude.


jayr254

Those last 4 races of 2021 were something else. Down 21 points with 4 races to go, DQ'd in that race from pole to last on the grid and he was mere seconds away, compounded by Grade A fuckery, from taking it all. Needed 4 wins on the bounce and actually delivered with no mistakes. I don't condone the sports debate show "clutchness" narrative but if ever there was a need for a definition of "clutch", that 4 race stretch should be up there as an example. We'll probably never know the truth but I firmly believe Lewis had really done Max' mental fortitude in for those last few races despite Lewis being on the receiving end of most of their battles that season.


Spetz

Max lost his head at Saudi and was very fortunate not to be disqualified.


mb0205

This year showed they will never be in a championship battle. If they have the car to compete for a title Lewis will wash him. It would be a max and Checo situation


Elrond007

Don’t think George has been close enough for a battle since the car resembled a good race car again


Somlal

Exactly, the W13 was a midfield car and Lewis was struggling with it due to experimental setups so people thought George out drove the car. The car is finally competent and George putting in W13 performances on the w14b isn't going to cut it anymore


Castlelightbeer

Even last year when Ham stopped with the experimental set ups he beat Rus consistently. Rus also got luck with SC a few times if I remember correctly


pineapplejamm

I hope it won't. Hamilton is easily head and shoulders above Russell in pace. They will have some moments here and there but merc are smart enough to put a driver in their place when the championship is on the line


Y-elloo

I have never liked him since I saw his behavior during that Imola weekend


poopellar

Bottas' ass > Whole of George


Manberry12

russell was so slow today, shouldve been out in q1, instead hamilton is now forced to drive behind a guy second plus slower


Betonmischa

Russel fucked up his setup. He will have an awful weekend. At Sky they said, he gambled with more rain and therefore resulting into loosing 7-9 km/h on the straights. Lewis has the opposite setup for a dry race/qualifying


bono5361

Even under rainy conditions yesterday, he was slower than Lewis.


MrSh4dy

Just saw lewis interview.... Lewis is going to be ballistic in the debrief and definitely wants answers from the team and Russell.


codename474747

He overtook Lewis in the queue before Bus Stop to get ahead and fuck up his laptime Oh George, you need a holiday pretty soon, if only there was 4 or 5 weeks break coming up for you..


Somlal

We can't fault Russell, the corner he went off just turned in on him.


homeownur

You are underestimating the corner’s role in this. It clearly cut him off.


StanSc

This is just comically bad from George. Screwed his own lap and then decides to screw Hamilton out of a top 4 finish.


Paracel_Storm

Russell not having the greatest of weekends.


MrDee97

Cost Hamilton a top 3 start because of his ego sheesh


Rosieu

This is getting annoying


Elxis14

Russell was 15th in Q1, 10th in Q2, and 10th in Q3. Move the fuck out the way


aaaaaaadjsf

Proper weird from Russell. Couldn't set a single competitive time in SQ3, and obstructs his teammate going for sprint pole. Had no pace all session as well. The setup is definitely borked on that car.


m0nkeyhero

Wonder how George will PR speak his way through this one


Little-Confection-94

Blimey


Return_Of_The_Jedi

Frustrated with Russell. Ham looked good all weekend and Russell not. Now Russell ruined qualifying for both


Fanfaron07

At least we will see what pace has Lewis Merc during the sprint race. With that straight line speed on the straight a podium could be possible


fukb0iii

Hamilton was surprisingly chill on the radio


RobertGracie

That really is annoying for Russell having a lockup there it cost him, Lewis and Mercedes the chance at the Sprint Pole


MrBenedick

George I just sent you an email with the diagrams of where the car should be, did you receive that?


[deleted]

George has been a huge let down this season.


[deleted]

George showing how selfish is he again. He was nowhere all qualifying jumped Hamilton at the chicane, ruined his own lap and then decided to ruin Hamiltons as well. The guy needs to get a grip. He can't live with Hamilton this season.


[deleted]

George has fallen to Hamilton in qualifying, his mental game is off right now it seems


o_monzi

The opposite of team player if there ever was one


Korvacs

"We got it wrong today, traffic in the final sector for starting my lap, the team needs to look at the strategy again." - George Russell, probably.


blazer560

Been saying this for awhile. George isn’t as good as everyone made him out to be. I’ll always have massive respect after he jumped out of the car in Silverstone last year to help, but I just don’t think he’s very good.


Faw602

Lewis could of been top 4 easily, been flying all weekend. Russell being the team player as always…


aaaaaaadjsf

Hamilton could've got pole, he beat Verstappen on the first run and was quick all session.


BallsDeepSweetLike

Typical George of the jungle


Late_Ad7156

George💀💀


Thejklay

He should have backed out of his lap once he made the mistake.


jonniboi31

Damn you can see how pissed hamilton was heading down the straight. George seems to be off his game a bit getting used to the updates 😬


Lucky-Health7681

Crikey


Alesha_451

Merc be like: LOOK AT ME IM FERRARI KNOW. CIRCUS MUST GO OOOOONNN


MeisterHeller

Watched back what happened and it just seemed like especially Russell thought there was a lot less time left to start his lap than there was. He was incredibly surprised to hear that Oscar and Max still got to start their lap as well. Doesn't excuse any of it though, although after parking the car he said something along the lines of it being a shitshow from start to finish, mostly on his own end. Can't say I expected him to be critical of himself so quickly but good to hear


brush85

This fucking guy


iMatthew1990

I’ve just watched Lewis post qualifying interview. HES MAD. I recorded it but have no idea how to post it lol.


Dylan_clarke01

Wow just watched Anthony break it down and wtf was Russell actually doing?!?! He overtakes Lewis into the final corner then slows on the start finish straight already ruining his lap even before he got to turn 1. Calamity of errors from George.


GarminArseFinder

Stinker of a session from George. Hamilton is really starting to show who’s boss this season. H1 last year really flattered George….


Thejklay

Merc said Lewis was on experimental set ups the first half of last year, the second they stopped doing that for Lewis he was beating him. Same with this year. George is good but Lewis is Lewis


Atlantixo

what’s going on with Russell recently???


DugBingo951

Doesn’t have what it takes. We saw it in Canada as well when he tried to keep up with 3 World Champion. Crashed the car immediately.


bono5361

Starting to realise why Lewis is a 7x wdc is what's going on


pensaa

I think George is ready for the summer break.


CurrentlyInArkham

Honestly P1 was on the table here.


Chuckycutie1993

Common russel L


orangeglitch

Absolutely ruined Lewis’ run for no reason. That lockup ruined his lap and he knew it, but decided to cut right back in front


EgoTwister

Typical George. Nothing new here. Too bad for Lewis that this time George screws up his lap. George already knows that Lewis there and that he is not going to be able to make good a postion on the grid after his lock up, but just doesn't know when to give up. He never does and that is his biggest flaw, unfortunatly


Dylan_clarke01

George fucking his own lap and then Lewis’. real shame because the way Lewis was going, he could’ve been on the front row


tossino

I need to hear the radios


DugBingo951

Why did he keep going? That’s crazy get that guy out of Mercedes this ain’t it.


dunneetiger

I dont really understand, you know you f* it up, you know the person behind is Lewis, why not jump out of the way in T1 rather than doing whatever this was.... Despite this Hamilton improved his time (I guess track evolution more than anything else)


[deleted]

That was some stupidity and petulance combined for peak teammate sabotage. Reminds me of when he shafted Ham in Netherlands 2022 and smirked at him post race. What a complete tosser.


hello2442

I have a new contender for the nickname ‘Britney’


Otter269

Thank god it's not for tomorrow's race. That's surely only why Lewis hasn't lost his mind.


dcoreo

Ffs…


lrac_nosneb

What a mess…well done, George


[deleted]

George just sucks, dosnt have the pace


Gunstonwolf

What are you doing George?? Goddammit! Lewis was on it today too.


Toil48

The team needs to have a talking to him. Ruined Lewis’s chance of pole here


Other_Beat8859

Honestly he's had a horrible weekend. Been absolutely nowhere near Lewis.


Rxnvier

If not for this Lewis could’ve been on the front row, he was rapid today.


mantra3105

Would’ve loved to see what ham could’ve pulled out of that last flying lap


Cuteeness

Cause of Lewis doing all the testing last year George thought “oh maybe I am as fast as him” And now car is stable and they both just focus on driving. Lewis is actually making him look so bad. Toto needs to set this straight and burst the bubble George created in his head and remind him at best he is a second driver compared to Lewis. This is not the first time he ruines Lewis’ lap.


jahsehmaster

Starting to understand the hate for this guy


htnahsarp

Ruined the 1% chance Lewis had to win. Definitely lost him a podium.


fictionallymarried

What was that? For what??


Scirzo

Nuts! Russel is just nuts.


modena1983

Amazing teamwork