George Russell disagrees with Lewis Hamilton over cause of Mercedes spin at US Grand Prix

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Mercedes’ weekend followed a familiar path at the US Grand Prix. They showed contending pace before falling away rather dramatically.

In the first two segments of Sprint qualifying on Friday, Lewis Hamilton looked like a contender for pole. However, a yellow flag, followed by a mistake at turn 12, cost him.

Teammate George Russell showed the car’s pace in SQ3 by lapping within twelve-thousandths of polesitter Max Verstappen. Mercedes’ substantial upgrade package for the event seemed to be working well.

However, Russell called himself an ‘idiot’ after both Ferraris passed him in the Sprint itself. He also lost a spot to Lando Norris at the start, which meant he eventually crossed the line fifth.

Russell fell back into Hamilton’s clutches after ‘toasting’ his tyres, in his own words, but a suspension issue hampered the seven-time world champion. Both drivers would then make costly mistakes in qualifying.

Hamilton suffered a second Q1 exit of the season, while his teammate reached Q3 before spinning into the barriers. Russell’s accident infuriated Charles Leclerc but foreshadowed a similar moment for Hamilton on race day.

George Russell insists Lewis Hamilton spin ‘nothing’ to do with Mercedes upgrades

One Mercedes lined up 18th, with the other in the pit lane after the mechanics breached parc ferme to fix Russell’s car. Hamilton made a fantastic start, gaining six places, but his race was over on lap three.

The 39-year-old lost the rear of his car at the penultimate corner – the same spot where Russell crashed – and found himself beached in the gravel. A suspicious Hamiton suggested Mercedes’ upgrades may be to blame after another bizarre spin in practice.

“In FP1, I had the spin in turn three, which is so rare,” he said, via Motorsport Week. “I’ve never spun in turn three in all the years that I’ve been here, and I’ve never spun [at turn 19] before either.

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“I was just saying that, you know, George obviously had the same problem yesterday, and he’s gone back to the old spec car. He’s looking good out there, so maybe there’s something with our new upgrade.”

Russell, however, rejected this explanation. With insufficient spare parts available, he steered the ‘old spec’ car to sixth in a commendable recovery drive.

“Nothing really to do with the upgrades,” he said. “Yeah, it’s pretty complicated for me to say.”

Will Buxton baffled by decision Mercedes made with Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton will now have to decide whether he wants to use the new parts in Mexico. With three practice sessions at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, rather than one, he may have more time to get used to them.

On Thursday, Hamilton issued a warning about Mercedes’ upgrades, admitting it would be ‘almost impossible’ to grasp the ‘finer points’ before sprint qualifying. That proved to be eerily prescient.

After his Q1 elimination, he suggested that a pit-lane start might be wise. It would allow the team to overhaul the set-up of his car.

It was somewhat surprising, then, to see him line up on the grid. Will Buxton was baffled by Mercedes’ decision given that their star driver was clearly ‘uncomfortable’.