Russell tells Mercedes to look in mirror after “big cock-up”

In a contrasting qualifying to teammate Lewis Hamilton who claimed a brilliant pole position to end a drought stretching back to 2021, Russell will start only 18th for Sunday’s race in Budapest after being knocked out in the first session. 

Russell was hampered by traffic in the final sector as he prepared to start his final lap of Q1, but was ultimately critical of Mercedes’ timing. 

“The whole session was on track at the wrong time, wrong point, taking way too much risk as a team,” Russell said. 

“The car was so quick, we didn’t need to fuel for one lap and go right at the end and in loads of traffic. 

"I was trying to respect the gentleman’s agreement and got overtaken by a couple of cars, most notably Pierre, who overtook me at the final corner. 

"I was three tenths down before I even started and the lap was gone. I’m not going to blame any of the drivers. We’re all fighting for ourselves. As a team, we should have done a better job.” 

Asked if he thinks the gentleman’s agreement has now been taken away, Russell replied: “I don’t think it was ever really there to be honest. 

“In all honesty I would have probably done the same if I was in their shoes. You’ve got to fight for yourself. But the track is big enough, it’s 4.5km long and we were in a space of 1km with 10 cars. 

“So we just need to look in the mirror and recognise that we made a big cock-up today.”