George Russell points finger after issuing complaint on Mercedes radio at Italian GP

George Russell has blamed a misunderstanding between himself and the Mercedes pit wall for an underwhelming qualifying result at the Italian Grand Prix. The Brit was the fastest driver on track in Q1 on medium compound tyres, but was ultimately forced to settle for sixth place.

Russell went out on medium tyres in Q1, running a different strategy to the rest of the field. Despite the expected pace deficit between the two compounds, the 27-year-old was able to punch in the fastest time of any driver, while team-mate Kimi Antonelli squeezed through in 11th. When the chips were down in Q3, though, Mercedes put soft compound tyres on Russell's Mercedes. He was only able to record the sixth-fastest time, behind Max Verstappen, and both McLaren and Ferrari drivers.

This prompted a frustrated radio call from the Brit. "I thought I asked for the mediums?" he fumed. After receiving a response from race engineer Marcus Dudley, he replied bluntly: "Talk after."

After cooling down, Russell explained the story behind the mix-up. "Running the medium in Q1, we were the quickest," he told Sky Sports F1. "After Q2, I said I'd like to use the mediums because I felt more comfortable on it.

"It wasn't the first time this season that mediums, for some cars at least, have been faster. I'm not going to stand here and say 'if only'. We ultimately didn't do a good job in Q3 anyway... bit annoying.

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"In all honesty, I probably wasn't totally clear enough. I just said after Q1 I'd like to use the mediums, and I sort of re-emphasised during the middle of Q2. I asked if we were sticking to the plan, and they said yes, but I thought the plan was mediums, they thought the plan was fitting the softs.

"For me, I thought it was quite clear because of the performance we showed. A bit of an error on both halves. Our race pace will probably be better than Ferrari, but they're mighty fast in the straight, so we need to try and get ahead of Leclerc from the off, otherwise it will be quite a long, frustrating race behind him."

There is, at least, a silver lining for Russell. With Lewis Hamilton carrying a five-place grid penalty over from the Dutch Grand Prix, both he and team-mate Antonelli will gain a position ahead of Sunday's battle. Mercedes trail Ferrari by 12 points in the Constructors' Championship standings with nine races remaining.