Russell says Mercedes should have let him finish pole lap in São Paulo

George Russell said Mercedes misjudged the moment when his race engineer told him to abandon a Q3 lap as rain approached at Interlagos. “That was a pole lap,” Russell said. “We should have completed that lap.”

Qualifying had been delayed by heavy rain for 1 hour, 23 minutes and 23 seconds, with another shower threatening during Q3. Russell qualified second, 0.204 seconds behind Lando Norris, and had a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race.

Norris took his 20th F1 pole and said avoiding mistakes had been key.