Untelevised George Russell radio reveals sweary rant at Mercedes

Sam Cooper
George Russell with his hand on his face

Russell was left furious with a lack of power at the race start.

George Russell fumed at his Mercedes team in an expletive-laden rant that was not played on the English broadcast of the race.

Russell tangled with Lewis Hamilton in the opening lap and became beached in the gravel but rather than blame his old team-mate, Russell said a lack of power was at fault.

George Russell radio message reveals Mercedes anger

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Russell began the weekend by speaking about the discovery of an issue that has been affecting his car exclusively for a number of races and urged his team to find a solution.

But his mood will not have improved in any way with the early retirement that saw Kimi Antonelli’s lead over him stretch to 50 points.

After becoming beached, Russell took to the radio to highlight where he believed the fault really lied and that was the team who gave him a car with no battery.

“I’m out. What the f**k happened with the SOC [State of Charge] down the straight?” he fumed over the radio. “I had no f**king battery down the straight.

“Guys unacceptable, un-f**king-acceptable this whole weekend.”

Russell has appeared increasingly at odds with his Mercedes team, saying he was “numb” to the latest disappointment.

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“Numb to the disappointment now, so you know when it happens so often, you just get used to it,” Russell told PlanetF1.com and others after his retirement.

“For whatever reason, the battery decided not to recharge at Turn 1. I went around the first corner, the battery didn’t charge, and I exited the first corner 35% down.

“Because it didn’t charge, I also had a boost problem. The turbo didn’t sort itself out, so I had no power. I got to the top of Eau Rouge with 0% on the battery. Quite frankly, it was dangerous.

“I got swamped by three cars. Shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place, and that’s why I’m most angry.

“The incident with Lewis, honestly, I think was a racing incident. He didn’t do anything reckless, it was just one of those things.

“I’m just most angry that I was in that position in the first place. I was in a great position out of Turn 1, and I was ready to fight the two guys ahead of me up to Turn 5. Instead, I get swamped by three drivers.”

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