Lewis Hamilton makes George Russell upgrade offer after US GP qualifying crash

Without spare upgraded parts available to him, George Russell revealed Lewis Hamilton offered his team-mate his version of the team’s updates after he crashed in qualifying.

Mercedes brought a significant upgrade package with them to Austin this weekend, in what looks set to be their last large set of updates of the season as they look to finish 2024 on a high.

George Russell reveals ‘kind offer’ from Lewis Hamilton after qualifying crash

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

Hamilton is heading into his final six races as a Mercedes driver and, with the 2025 regulations being mostly a continuation of what is in place now, any updates brought to the current cars will likely be able to influence development for next season’s runners.

With Russell having crashed out at the high-speed Turn 19 in Q3 and Hamilton having been knocked out in Q1 on Saturday, Russell revealed the seven-time World Champion offered his team-mate his version of the updated Mercedes W15 to run with on Sunday in Austin, though this was not an offer that would be taken up, with the cars heading into parc fermé conditions.

Reporting that he was safe and well after his high-speed impact on Saturday, Russell told media including PlanetF1.com: “I mean, right now, the concern is about the [upgraded] bits. So, you know, we will have to revert on the upgrades.

“Lewis has kindly offered his ones, but we’re not going to. So I don’t know what’s going to be happening now, but that’s the biggest concern.”

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Russell’s engineers will have faced lengthy repairs heading up to the United States Grand Prix, while Hamilton is set to start from 18th place after Liam Lawson’s 60-place grid penalty takes effect for power unit changes.

With the race looking like a tough proposition from the team’s perspective, Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff admitted to facing an “uphill battle” when the lights go out at the Circuit of The Americas on Sunday.

“A disappointing and frustrating day,” Wolff said when reflecting on Saturday’s action.

“After a strong Friday, we were hopeful of a good showing and it quickly became clear in the Sprint that we didn’t have the pace of our nearest competitors, falling back to finish a distant P5 and P6.

“Added to that, the handling balance both drivers had enjoyed the day before was missing and they were struggling with tyre overheating – Lewis on the rear axle, George on the front.

“We made some set-up changes to tackle this ahead of qualifying, but we continued to struggle and couldn’t unlock the same level of performance we had seen on Friday, with Lewis finishing P19 and George P6 but unable to complete his final flying lap.

“Tomorrow’s race will therefore be an uphill battle: there is a major repair job ahead for George after the Q3 crash. With Lewis starting P19, it will be a case of damage limitation in the race: fighting for meaningful points will be tough and we need things to fall in our favour to do so.”

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