The two Mercedes drivers lined up 11th and 14th on the grid for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, but finished much further apart.
George Russell made a strong start, picked up another couple of places and coped with a set-up imbalance as he claimed points for fourth place.
Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton was unsuccessful in his attempts to breach the top 10 and ended up stuck in queue of cars, ruing a lack of straight-line speed which made it difficult to overtake.
Their conversations with their race engineers throughout the afternoon reveal how their races unfolded, and also their contrasting styles on the radio. Russell had an almost continuous back-and-forth with his race engineer, Riccardo Musconi.
In contrast Hamilton’s exchanges with Pete Bonnington were much briefer. This reflects the difference between Hamilton in his 10th season as a Mercedes driver and Russell only in his fourth race for the team. The newcomer often prompted Musconi to confirm whether he was managing his car the way the team wanted him to.
Hamilton and Russell’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix team radio
Russell got away well and profited from the first-corner collision between Carlos Sainz Jnr and Daniel Ricciardo, moving up to sixth place. Although Hamilton also moved up thanks to the chaos, he lost a place to Lance Stroll who lined up behind him.
LapSpeakerMessageSpeakerMessage1BonningtonSo Safety Car, Safety Car, staying out, keep the delta positive. So strat one, got Sainz in the gravel turn three. Get on that delta.MusconiSafety Car, stay out, stay out. Delta positive. So currently you are P6. Strat one.1BonningtonLewis, any feedback on track conditions?MusconiSo we’ve got Sainz in the gravel at turn three. So it will go on for at least two laps.1HamiltonIt’s still very wet mate.MusconiDon’t let the tyres get cold. Keep those brakes happy.1BonningtonOkay, Roger just try and keep as much temp as possible.RussellFronts seem okay at the moment, right?1HamiltonIt was hectic into turn one,…