George Russell moans on team radio at Lewis Hamilton ‘going very slow’ on qualifying lap

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George Russell was getting a bit itchy racing behind Lewis Hamilton in Q3 of the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday with the young Brit moaning on team radio about his team-mate’s pace. Mercedes were once again off the pace this weekend in Australia, but it was a much better performance than last time out in Saudi Arabia.

Hamilton was able to join Russell in Q3 this time, meaning the two Mercedes team-mates were able to help each other out. The Silver Arrows drivers have alternated in Q3 on who is given a slip stream for the final run and it was Russell’s turn this weekend.

The 24-year-old was following Hamilton round the track during the second outlap in Q3 and was given the hurry up by his race engineer. But Russell was clearly agitated in the car as he called on Hamilton to step on the pace in front of him.

“Lewis is going very slow,” Russell said. “Tell Lewis to speed up.”

The seven-time world champion clearly got the memo as they crossed the line to start their final run with Russell then able to move his car up to fourth. That proved to be Russell’s final run in qualifying, but Hamilton had room to make one final crack at beating his team-mate.

And Hamilton was able to move his car ahead of Russell’s on the grid, although both Mercedes drivers were then pipped by Lando Norris. It means Hamilton will start Sunday’s race in fifth with Russell alongside him on the third row in sixth.

It proved to be a mixed session Q3 for Ferrari though as Carlos Sainz suffered some bad luck due to the red flag caused by Fernando Alonso’s crash. The Spaniard was only able to qualify ninth-fastest after also having some issues in his final lap.

Charles Leclerc was able to take pole from Max Verstappen though, with Sergio Perez just behind the pair in third. Alonso looked to be in the race for a surprise pole position with Alpine performing well this weekend.

He was the fastest man in the first sector and went purple in sector two, but disaster struck when he crashed into the wall. “I locked the hydraulics and I couldn’t change gear,” Alonso said.

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