George Russell issues F1 'horrific accident' warning after survival challenge

George Russell has warned that the conditions in qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix could have produced a "horrific" crash had the conditions seen during the session actually occurred during the race itself.

The Mercedes driver finished second behind Lando Norris in a qualifying session at Interlagos that was thrown into chaos by a torrential downpour, with the opening segment red-flagged after just two minutes due to standing water and zero visibility.

Drivers immediately reported aquaplaning even on the full wet tyres, forcing race control to send out the medical and safety cars to inspect the circuit before suspending the session for 82 minutes.

Russell described the early laps of Q1 as some of the most difficult he has faced, saying the spray made it impossible to see the braking zone for Turn 4.

"Yeah, I mean, especially Q1 was extremely challenging," said Russell. "You know, the visibility was zero down the straight into Turn 4. I was wheel-spinning in fifth gear, over 200 kilometres an hour, aquaplaning.

"So, when you're aquaplaning on the straight and you can't see in front of you, it's... I'm not even sure what the word is to describe it. You know, it does seem a bit crazy, I guess that's what we have to deal with.

"I love driving in the rain. I love driving in the rain here, but at some point, if that was a race, there was no way we should be driving in that because the chances of seeing a really, really horrific incident are very, very high."

How Russell kept busy during lengthy qualifying stoppage

With qualifying halted for well over an hour, Russell found an unusual way to pass the time in the Mercedes garage.

Asked how he passed the time during the stoppage, Russell replied: "Played some chess. That was about it, really. 

"Spoke with the mechanics, and I was pretty convinced it was not going to restart. But I think, yeah, nice that we did."