Mercedes has seen some of the worst days for their team as they struggle to challenge Red Bull. The team has visibly faced more issues because of poor communication between the drivers and the team. And that is exactly what happened at the Belgian Sprint race for Lewis Hamilton. While Max Verstappen and his engineer drive themselves to victory, their rivals have had some battles of their own.
Hamilton was ahead of George Russell during the Sprint Shootout and was close to getting into the front of the grid for his Sprint race. He was in his flying lap when George ended up impeding the Brit. This slowed down the seven-time World Champion and in turn, landed him on a P7 while George went back to P10. All this while, Bono, Mercedes‘ engineer failed to communicate the information to Lewis.
This chaotic communication between the drivers and the team caused both drivers to fall back in their positions for the grid. This poor communication between the drivers left fans angry. Russell who blocked Hamilton at his fastest lap after overtaking him, messed up Hamilton’s position. This lack of communication among the team left fans furious at the messy situation.
Fans react to Russell impeeding Lewis Hamilton during Sprint qualifications
Both the Mercedes cars were the fastest when all of a sudden they got entangled in a messy situation. Russell had a little lockup after which he passed Hamilton and then blocked him from overtaking. This made fans say that Russell “ruined” Hamilton’s lap which could have been a pole.
One of the fans said, “Mercedes was really messing with their drivers today.” and then mentioned the radio message shared between Bono and Lewis Hamilton. In that Hamilton, who was clearly confused asked Bono why wasn’t he informed about Russell, to which Bono replied that they were asked to rush. Russell overtook Hamilton again which made him ask if he should back down and Bono replied “We continue.”
Mercedes was really messing with their drivers today.
A replay of Lewis Hamilton’s radio:
“George is on a lap and you didn’t let me know.” – i’m sure this was GR’s lap done.
Bono tells him “we were told to push through so push through when you can.” – so LH passes Russell who…
— deni (@fiagirly) July 29, 2023
This exchange made fans lose their mind over the lack of communication and teamwork. One fan said, “The team has been pretty horrendous with communication in quali this year. It definitely needs looking into.”
The team have been pretty horrendous with communication in quali this year. It definitely needs looking into
— Henry (@h_joy06) July 29, 2023
While the other fans blamed George for what happened at qualifications. One said, “George Russell has that mentality, if I’m not making it, we all aren’t! The team is already struggling, and George’s actions aren’t helping!”
George Russell has that mentality, if I’m not making it, we all aren’t! The team is already struggling, George’s actions aren’t helping! #F1 #BelgianGP
— Nefarious (@Cybernetcrumbs) July 29, 2023
While Lewis Hamilton still has the Sprint race to get back to the top, Russell is facing the wrath of not just Hamilton fans but also Verstappen fans.