George Russell upgrades “in the bin”, Lewis Hamilton offers to swap parts
“We will have to revert on the upgrades," says George Russell
Lewis Hamilton offered to give his car upgrades to teammate George Russell at the F1 United States Grand Prix.
The Mercedes drivers each experienced disappointment on Saturday in Texas.
Hamilton’s dreadful qualifying meant his time was only 19th-best, while Russell crashed in Q3 and will start from sixth.
Russell wrecked his Mercedes’ upgrades - which were new in Texas - in the incident.
Mercedes have no spares this weekend but Hamilton has offered up his set of parts to his better-placed teammate.
F1 rules on a sprint race weekend would allow Russell’s damaged car to be fitted with Hamilton’s parts.
“Right now, the concern is about the bits,” Russell said to Motorsport after his qualifying crash.
“We will have to revert on the upgrades.
“Lewis has kindly offered his ones, but we're not going to swap.
“So I don't know what's going to be happening now, but that's the biggest concern.”
'In the bin'
Russell blamed his crash on trying to make up for a race pace disadvantage.
“All season, when the car is in the sweet spot, we are fighting for poles and wins,” he said.
“Yesterday, we were both fighting for pole and today we were both almost out in Q1.
“I really pushed it on that last lap, and ultimately, trying to find performance that wasn't there and paid the price.
“And I'm really just disappointed with myself, because everyone's worked so hard to bring the upgrades. Now that is in the bin.”
