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George Russell

'Angry' Russell seeking Mercedes talks after qualifying 'disaster'

George Russell will start 17th at best in the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix after a Q1 elimination.

Russell FP3 Hungary
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An "angry" George Russell wants talks with Mercedes following a "total disaster" of a Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session in which he fell in Q1.

In a dry-wet-dry first segment of qualifying, Russell's Mercedes was dumped out in Q1 and he will start 17th at best after being on pole last time out at Silverstone.

Russell did not have adequate fuel onboard his W15 to complete a final lap after Sergio Perez's hefty crash had caused a red flag as a light rain shower cleared.

This meant Russell did not have the chance to complete his best lap in the driest conditions as others in the drop-zone such as Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo climbed up the order to set times good enough for Q2.

On the radio on his in-lap, Russell took his own responsibility for the elimination but is keen to talk with Mercedes over how it came to be that his car did not have enough fuel at a crucial moment.

"You can never take your eye off the ball, and we need to have a proper sit down as a team to understand what is going on," Russell told media including RacingNews365.

"We have a car to be fighting for the top three, we shouldn't be standing here out in Q1 and Lewis only just through into Q3. 

"I'm really quite angry right now because we've got such a fast car and we can't be throwing away opportunities like this. 

"At the end, it was the quickest and we had no fuel in the car to finish the session. I have no idea how that happened, and it was a total disaster."

Russell's own mistake

Detailing the first run in Q1, Russell explained how a miscalculation of his own with the weather led to him aborting the lap when conditions were at their best.

"At the beginning, I didn't think it was going to rain again, so I just thought the track was going to get quicker," he explained.

"I took it easy on lap one and it suddenly started raining, and it was the most important lap."

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