Lewis Hamilton was “not happy” after the sprint shootout at the Belgian Grand Prix Saturday morning, after being forced to abort his final push lap.
Hamilton was forced to abort his final hot lap in SQ3 after being held up by George Russell, who went wide at the opening corner.
Russell started his final lap narrowly ahead of Hamilton, before running wide at Turn 1.
The former Williams driver then cut back across in front of Hamilton, who did hit the apex.
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Russell then held Hamilton up through Eau Rouge, before having to lift and abort his lap on the exit of Radillon.
The seven-time World Champion qualified P7 for the sprint race as a result.
Hamilton wasn’t pleased about how SQ3 was managed towards the end by Mercedes, with him having also been caught in a train at the final corner ahead of his lap.
He admitted that “communication was pretty poor” by the Silver Arrows.
“We’re not happy about it obviously,” Hamilton said after the sprint shootout.
“It was a really fun session and it was looking great at the end. I had that lap which put me first for the first lap that I’d done and I knew I could go quicker. I reckon I could have been first or second on that last lap.
“Communication was pretty poor, it was difficult to understand – we got to the last corner and there were seven cars trundling around. We thought we didn’t have any more time left which was why we were pushing but it turns out we had plenty of time.”
Hamilton was pushed to comment about the incident with Russell in particular, which cost the 38-year-old a chance at pole position.
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The 103-time race winner insisted that the incident with Russell “doesn’t really matter”, and that he feels “great in the car in all conditions”.
“With George… it’s the way it is. It doesn’t really matter,” admitted Hamilton.
“I feel great in the car in all conditions, we’re a bit slower than the Red Bulls but none of us have driven on the heavier fuel so I’m excited.”