By admin 
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were in contrasting mood after Mercedes endured a frustrating Sao Paulo GP. Hamilton, 39, could only collect one point in Brazil and finished 10th, while Russell enjoyed a productive weekend and finished fourth at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.
Hamilton thanked his team for their efforts in South America, but the seven-time world champion was scathing about his car’s performance as it struggled to negotiate corners in the rain. Russell enjoyed much more on track and appeared to threaten eventual winner Max Verstappen at times.
The King’s Lynn resident will also be pleased to hear he will not be awarded any points despite the FIA fines Mercedes after the race due to undergoing tire pressure adjustments during the 10-minute delay to the start of the GP. Nevertheless, the result did little to improve Hamilton’s mood.
Sky Sports made it clear that Hamilton found the weekend “disastrous” and that it was “the worst this car has ever been”. As for Russell, the mood was different as he told his team: “thank you for your hard work over the last three weeks”.
After the race, Hamilton thanked the Mercedes team for their efforts, but remained brutally honest about the car’s speed. He said: “We were just slow.
“The car was really heavy. I still want to say a big thank you to the guys in the garage. They arrived super early this morning and did a great job all weekend.
“Everyone in the factory knows they will feel the pain. The team could have won today, so at least one car behaved well. The car is like a plank of wood. No suspension, it bounces everywhere on the tires.” and can’t get power anywhere.
“The worst ride we’ve ever had, especially around corners. Just so stiff. But hopefully we won’t have any more bumpy tracks. I don’t think the last three are that bumpy. I could happily go driving on holiday.”
Meanwhile, Russell praised his team for their performance under the circumstances. He also admitted that he was surprised that no safety car or red flag appeared given the severe weather conditions. He said: “I was shocked, to be honest. I mean, we could barely hold on, I couldn’t keep my foot on the gas on the straight. The car suffered from aquaplaning, exceptionally dangerous for those few laps, but they like action, I think.”
Asked for his thoughts on the car and the decisions the mechanics made, he added: “You know, we are in this together as a team and we would have taken P4 before the weekend. We will discuss it. Sometimes it is difficult to predict what will happen. Everyone does their best and makes the best decisions with the information available.
“Normally, when it dries, it’s the team’s call to say ‘let’s go to slicks’. When it gets wetter, it is normally the driver’s call to say slicks to inter or inters to rain. I was beautiful, well, very confident. it would be a Safety Car or a red flag because it was like driving a boat.”