George Russell gave a brutally honest verdict on his sprint qualifying display in Miami after a hot lap with singer Ed Sheeran.
The Brit had endured a difficult start to the first weekend in the US in 2024, getting eliminated in SQ2 alongside team-mate Lewis Hamilton, registered 11th and 12th respectively.
The race on Saturday was no better, as Russell came home to finish 12th while Hamilton had a dismal afternoon, colliding with Fernando Alonso on the first corner and was demoted to 16th after the race for speeding in the pitlane.
And Russell made a hilarious admission about his display on Friday while hitting the track in a Mercedes AMG with pop icon Sheeran.
Russell in hot lap with Ed Sheeran
Posting on his Instagram account, Sheeran shared with his fans a video of the hot lap with Russell with the caption: ‘@georgerussell63 took me on a hot lap in Miami. I obviously loved it look at my face.’
“You can do one of two things: you can go fast or you can go sideways,” Russell said to Sheeran.
“Bit of both,” Sheeran said.
“Just shout if you’re not feeling good,” warned Russell.
While Sheeran would like to think he remained composed during the lap, his face certainly did not seem like it as he was seen heavily breathing and swearing as Russell flew around the Miami circuit.
As the duo headed down the back straight after turn 16, the Mercedes driver revealed the speed he reaches in F1 machinery compared to the road car used in the hot lap.
“130, 140, 150 now. And in F1 we do about 210 down here,” he explained.
Sheeran could only respond: “Jesus Christ”, as they raced down the long straight.
As the car came to a halt at the starting grid, Russell asked: “How you feeling? You good?”
Sheeran lifted his hands to Russell sheer amusement: “****! Sweating!”
“I can’t believe you do that day in day out. That was ****** up. That was really ****** up”, said Sheeran.
On the official Mercedes X account’s video on the hot lap, Russell gives a hilariously brutal assessment on the lap compared to sprint qualifying that saw him eliminated before SQ3.
“I enjoyed that probably more than qualifying to be honest,” he admitted.