George Russell in foul-mouthed Abu Dhabi GP blast over Lewis Hamilton question

26 November 2023 , 14:13

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George Russell was not happy with Mercedes over the radio during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Image: HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

George Russell swore at his race engineer after not getting the answer he wanted to a question about Lewis Hamilton he asked over the radio during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Mercedes had nothing to fight for at the season finale other than to hold off the challenge of Ferrari for second place in the championship. They began the final race of the year just four points ahead of the Italians.

And it was all very tight for Mercedes with 16 laps to go with Russell on Charles Leclerc's gearbox. The Brit was clearly feeling the pressure as he was asking his team for updates about the live championship standings.

"How is Lewis getting on?" he asked his race engineer, only to get a non-specific answer in return. "Yeah, he's doing a good job at the moment. He's in a fight of his own." came the reply.

Russell was annoyed at the lack of information and fumed: "What the f**k does that mean? How are we doing in the championship? Are we good?" But he was just told in response: "All we can do is the best race that we can do. We're fine at the moment."

Inside the driver call which upset Red Bull and changed the course of F1 history

While Russell was duelling with Leclerc, Hamilton was indeed in a battle of his own with Carlos Sainz. He was one place ahead of the Spaniard with 10 laps to go while Russell was making sure he was not going to lose too many points to the other Ferrari.

As it stood, it was enough for Mercedes to be able to hold on to the championship. And they were still there by the time the chequered flag flew as a late Leclerc gamble did not pay off.

Sergio Perez had a five-second time penalty but got the better of Russell and looked poised to spoil the Mercedes party. Leclerc even allowed the Red Bull past unchallenged, knowing the penalty for the Mexican gave him the chance to try to hold up Russell as much as he could.

The Ferrari driver was thinking on his feet and it was worth the gamble. But it did not pay off as, in the end, Russell was less than four seconds behind Perez when he crossed the line and so the Red Bull driver was demoted below him.

Further back, Hamilton finished ninth to score minor points while another Ferrari gamble did not pay off. Sainz was left out in the hope of a late safety car but one didn't come, and so he finished outside the top 10 and Mercedes had the result they needed to finish as runners-up to Red Bull.

Daniel Moxon