SOCIAL MEDIA: WOLFF BELIEVES RUSSELL’S ABORTED LAP WOULD HAVE PUT HIM SECOND

Mercedes botched George Russell's qualifying at Interlagos with a pit wall call that cost him a shot at pole position. Race engineer Marcus Dudley told Russell to abort his final Q3 lap, expecting track conditions to improve. They didn't. Russell ended up P2 behind Lando Norris, and with his five-place grid penalty will start seventh.

Russell was livid on team radio, and Wolff admits the decision was "50-50" in tricky conditions. Still, the team principal believes Russell would have landed P2 even if he'd completed the lap — he was 80 milliseconds up on Norris but stuck in Alexander Albon's gearbox. "George was absolutely the quickest through the session and all sessions and should have been on pole," Wolff said.

The strategic fumble puts Russell deep in the midfield for Sunday's race, while Norris starts from pole with a clean shot at closing the gap to Max Verstappen in the championship fight.