New George Russell evidence as Brazilian Grand Prix team radio emerges
Mercedes driver George Russell has been limited to just three wins over the course of 2026
Untelevised team radio from the Brazilian Grand Prix has revealed that George Russell was told to be cautious at pit exit moments before his spin at Interlagos.
Russell finished fourth in Brazil last weekend as McLaren driver Lando Norris took his third victory of the F1 2026 season.
George Russell warned of wet pit exit in untelevised Brazilian GP team radio
After incurring a five-place grid penalty for an engine change, Russell had recovered from seventh on the grid to third when he made his first pit stop of the afternoon at the end of Lap 16.
Having swapped intermediate tyres for softs on a drying track, Russell spun as he accelerated from the downhill left-hand turn at pit exit.
Russell lost a number of positions as a result, with the British driver also glancing the barrier as he tried to correct his mistake.
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Untelevised footage from Brazil has revealed that Russell was instructed by his race engineer, Marcus Dudley, to press and hold the boost button on exit from the pit lane.
He also urged caution from his driver, reminding Russell twice that the pit exit would still be wet.
Dudley said: “Press and hold boost on exit. It’ll be caution on pit exit, that will still be wet. Will be wet on pit exit. Enable blue magic.”
Speaking after the race, Russell conceded that he took a high-risk approach at pit exit in the hope of gaining time over his rivals.
He said: “Not really too sure what happened. I went quite high risk because I smelt an opportunity and paid the price.
“It’s in those moments where you either gain a lot, or you lose a lot. This time it went against us.”
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Russell’s team radio has come to light after Tom Clarkson, the host of the FIA press conferences on grand prix weekends, called for the Mercedes driver to “chill” after walking out of a live press briefing on Saturday in Brazil.
The 28-year-old cut a frustrated figure after qualifying after being told to abort his Q3 lap by Dudley, denying him a chance of pole position.
Clarkson said Russell decided to walk out after tiring of questions over the aborted lap and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s response over team radio, which saw him console Russell by pointing out that he was still P2.
Appearing on the F1 Nation podcast, Clarkson said of Russell: “He actually walked out of the press conference while it was still going on.
“He was just done with it. He was done with it.
“I’d asked him a question about that lap that he didn’t complete because he was told not to by his race engineer Marcus Dudley.
“And when he had enough of answering questions, he just got up and walked out.
“I just came away thinking: ‘George, you need to chill, because this is going to start eating away at you.’
“And then in the race, we all saw what happened.”
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