As Cold War Against Lewis Hamilton Turns Sour, George Russell Gets “Passive-Aggressive” With Toto Wolff & Co.

What a difference a year can make. Rewind to the 2022 Brazilian GP. Mercedes’ W13 came to life all of a sudden and the team took its first win in almost a year. After a stellar performance to finish P1 in the Sprint race, George Russell won the main race from pole. With Lewis Hamilton in P2, it was the weekend of dreams for Mercedes. That weekend may have been the cause for the Brackley team’s struggles this year—giving it false hope about its car concept. Because of that false hope, and Mercedes’ indecision, Russell couldn’t help but express his frustrations during this year’s Brazilian GP.

When Russell joined Mercedes in 2022, everyone expected his rivalry with Lewis Hamilton to boil over. But that didn’t happen until the Japanese GP this year. After the seeds for their rivalry were laid there, things have only gotten more tense, and the Brazilian GP was a clear depiction of it.

George Russell had enough with Mercedes at the Brazilian GP

Remember what happened at the Qatar GP this season? Russell started in P2 alongside Max Verstappen and Hamilton started in P3. The seven-time champion got a great start off the line because of his soft tires and challenged Russell and Verstappen for the lead. But while doing so, he crashed into Russell and took himself out of the race. Following the incident, Mercedes fans were furious because the team didn’t impose any team orders to lay down the rules for fighting each other on Lap 1. That’s part of the reason the crash happened. A similar thing happened in Brazil.

After getting his maiden win last season in Interlagos, Russell would’ve wanted a repeat. But throughout the weekend, Mercedes seems to have struggled with pace. It was evident in the Sprint, and it was evident in the main race. After starting in P8, Russell found himself behind Hamilton in the first stint, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez chasing them. While the Mercedes pair worked together for a while to keep him at bay, Perez eventually got past. Russell said on the radio, “Are we working together or doing our own races?” Very similar to something he said in Japan.

After pitting for fresh tires, he was behind Hamilton once again, but clearly faster than the seven-time champion. He stayed behind him for a few laps, but once he’d had enough of Toto Wolff & Co.’s indecision to swap the cars, he expressed his frustration. He said, “I haven’t been on the radio because I thought It’s quite obvious who had the pace. I’m just sat here, burning the tires.” Listening to this, former driver Jolyon Palmer said, “Passive aggression sometimes.” His co-commentator Alex Jacques added, “I do enjoy Russell on the radio. That’s the third time today he’s been pretty aggressive with the team, sitting there frustrated.”

Read More: Accusing Lewis Hamilton of Selfish Tactics, George Russell Lashes Out at Toto Wolff & Co.

That wasn’t the end of his frustrations, though. His weekend went from bad to worse.

George Russell got the short end of the straw at the Brazilian GP

The weekend started with a qualifying performance that didn’t live up to Mercedes’ expectations for the Brazilian GP. After a tricky session, Hamilton qualified in P5 and Russell in P6. But due to an impeding incident during the session, the 25-year-old got a two-place grid penalty. Starting in P8, things just weren’t going in his favor. After Mercedes (probably) ruined his chances by not swapping places with Hamilton, Russell was forced to retire.

The team reported “high and worsening power unit oil temperature with a risk of imminent failure.” Following his retirement joining six other drivers in Interlagos, Russell spoke to Sky Sports about his race. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy. “Clearly, we got something wrong this weekend. Still not too sure what that is as yet. But the pace just hasn’t been there. We need to regroup and try to understand it because twelve months ago, this was our strongest race of the year. Twelve months later, by far our weakest race of the year.”

WATCH THIS STORY | Lewis Hamilton and George Russell slapped with a brutal reality check amid resurrection rumors

What do you think Mercedes’ course of action should’ve been concerning George Russell and Lewis Hamilton? Can they bounce back in the last two races?