28 July 2023 , 15:47
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George Russell told team-mate Lewis Hamilton to "put his foot down" in a terse qualifying message at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Qualifying began without a hitch at Spa-Francorchamps despite the threat of heavy rain. But the clouds parted and sunshine began beating down on the track.
Mercedes were ready and raring to go, and sent both drivers to the end of the pit lane with more than six minutes until the start of the session. And Russell was also clearly a little impatient, evidence by a snappy radio message at his team-mate.
In Q1, he was informed by his race engineer: "We will be very tight on time for a fast, slow, fast [run]." And his response was: "Well, tell Lewis to put his foot down then."
Whether or not Hamilton was informed of that blunt request, he obliged in style. He duly went on to set what was, at the time, the fastest lap of the session and comfortably secured his place in Q2.
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Russell also made it through without a hitch, with the Silver Arrows looking strong on the drying track. And there were also no concerns in Q2 as the Brits booked their respective places in the final part of the session.
Max Verstappen also managed to do that, but only by the skin of his teeth. And he took aim at his Red Bull team with a furious radio message after only managing to go 10th fastest in Q2.
"We should have just f****** pushed two laps in a row like I said," he shouted. He was then informed by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase that he had made it through to Q3 anyway, but that was not enough to placate the Dutchman.
He continued: "I don't give a f*** if I'm through in P10. It was s*** execution." And that prompted a snappy response from Lambiase, who informed his driver that the alternative strategy would have yielded a less pleasing result.
He said: "OK, and then when the track was two seconds quicker for your final lap and you didn't have any energy left, how would that have gone down? But you tell me what you want to do in Q3, and we'll do it. Sets, fuel, run plan."
Regardless, Verstappen went quickest in the session. His five-place grid penalty for exceeding his gearbox allowance for the season drops him to sixth on the grid, meaning Charles Leclerc inherited pole.