George Russell complains about Lewis Hamilton to Mercedes in frantic radio call

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell went wheel-to-wheel (Image: F1 TV) Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were caught up in an opening lap incident at the Singapore Grand Prix as the two drivers went wheel-to-wheel into turn one.  The seven-time world champion, starting fifth on the grid, went for an attack on his team-mate into the opening corner after an impressive launch when the lights went out. Unfortunately for Hamilton, his Mercedes team-mate left him no room on the outside, forcing the legendary Briton to accelerate across the run-off area and rejoin the circuit at turn three. Hamilton was quick to call into his team to complain that Russell had left him no room, while his team-mate asked in an agitated radio message: “Is he gonna let me back past?” Russell wasn’t the only driver not impressed by Hamilton’s turn-one antics with fellow Brit Lando Norris telling his McLaren pit crew that the seven-time world champion should have conceded a place to him as well. Under instruction from the Mercedes staff, Hamilton relinquished P3 to Russell and P4 to Norris, dropping back two places from the position in which he ended the opening lap. Hamilton was placed under review for his experimental racing line through the opening two corners, although the stewards ultimately decided that no further action was needed after the two positions were conceded.  Lewis Hamilton was forced to give up two positions after the opening lap in Singapore (Image: Getty) Hamilton was far from delighted heading into Sunday’s race. He told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying: “Today, we clearly had a really great package. The car was feeling incredible yesterday and there was so much hope that with some tweaks, we could challenge the Ferraris. “One of the cars was able to do that and I wasn’t today. We made big changes overnight and it got away from me again. I was just so slow today.  “Definitely disappointing but tomorrow is a new day and I really hope George gets a great start tomorrow and puts some pressure on those Ferraris. It would be great for him to get a win.”