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Hamilton and Russell not satisfied after Qualifying Brazil Sao Paulo GP

Hamilton and Russell not satisfied after Qualifying: ‘P5 is never great’

3 November 2023 at 20:51

After winning the race last season at Interlagos, Friday’s qualifying is not something Mercedes have hoped for. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will both start from the third row of the grid on Sunday. The two British drivers summed up their qualifying performance at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Speaking to Viaplay, Lewis Hamilton kept his review brief. "I mean it's fifth [place], fifth is never that great. I did the best I could. Hopefully we'll have a better race," the seven-time world champion concluded.

Russell: 'Disappointing and frustrating'

George Russell was also not joyful with his performance. "This is absolutely crazy, I've never ever seen a change of weather so drastically as that. I was really disappointed with the lap. On my lap I was just sliding around, I had no grip. I didn't see that much rain on my visor, I was a second off, but I actually wanted to pit because I was confident I was going to be last and ended up with P6," last year’s race winner also told Viaplay.

"So while it was disappointing and frustrating, P6 is definitely not a bad place to start. The team did a great job, the car has been performing well here, and we know it's all about race pace, so let's see how we perform on Saturday/Sunday," Russell added.