Hamilton: Why can’t I even beat Russell?

Lewis fumes after being outperformed again

GEORGE Russell is the bestperforming Mercedes driver of the moment. Don’t take my word for it. Take a baffled Lewis Hamilton’s.

The 24-year-old Russell underlined the fact with a fine qualifying performance under a scorching Spanish sun, two places and onetenth of a second ahead of the seven-time world champion.

Neither was within six-tenths of pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, of Ferrari, but both were happier with their machinery following major upgrades intended to remedy the bouncing phenomenon that has made driving their car akin to riding a bucking bronco. The surgery partly worked, as Russell underlined by registering the fourth-fastest time of the afternoon.

Hamilton, so often a one-lap master, cut a slightly disconsolate figure in his post-session interviews. The 37-year-old struck both defiant and despairing notes, saying: ‘My team-mate is fourth, so that means I should be at least third or fourth, and I am sixth.

‘I am still struggling with the car and qualifying wasn’t great for me. I don’t know how to get around that.

‘I don’t know what I am going to do, but I will just continue to work hard and try to figure it out.’ Asked if the upgrades put him back in the title mix, Hamilton said: ‘I am not really putting my mind to that because I am still way off.’

That is undeniable. He is 68 points behind leader Leclerc, and, perhaps even more painfully, 23 adrift of Russell. Of the changes to the car — a revised floor and new front wing — Hamilton cautioned: ‘We still had some bouncing on Turn 3 and 9, so we still have some improvements to make but it’s a step forward.’

Russell is playing both a short, medium and long game. Short: expressing reverence for his senior partner at every utterance. Medium: showing his pace and consistency from the start. Long: taking over, he hopes, as de facto No1 – a process that may not be completed until Hamilton leaves the grid for ever.

He is level 3-3 in qualifying results with his team-mate, and 4-1 ahead in grands prix. He also bettered him in the one sprint. It should be noted, in Hamilton’s defence, he has endured moments of ill-luck when safety cars favoured Russell in Melbourne

and Miami. Russell, who predicted a chaotic race, was keen to dodge pesky internal comparisons, saying: ‘I just focus on myself and try to do the best job possible and where that leaves me I’ll review from there.’

Red Bull’s defending champion Max Verstappen qualified second best after complaining of losing power at the 11th hour. Carlos Sainz, of Ferrari, was third.

Leclerc will have to be on his guard at the start of today’s race given that Verstappen has done brilliantly to win the past two rounds and stands 19 points behind the Monegasque.

There was disappointment for the home crowd when Alpine’s Fernando Alonso exited in Q1.

The double world champion was delayed behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and failed to cross the line in time to put in another flying lap. The local hero is now condemned to start 17th.

Norris suffered his own misfortune in Q2 when he had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. The Briton qualified 11th.