Was George Russell's Q3 Lap At Spa One Of The Best Of All Time? | Jolyon Palmer's F1 TV Analysis 

Who would have thought that we would see a Russell vs. Hamilton lap comparison this year already

Every time I hear the Williams garage go nuts, it makes me smile.

If someone told me in 2019 that we'll be comparing quali laps between Mercedes and Williams i'd laugh

George only had 1 shot in Q3 and he executed it beautifully, still stunned by his flawless performance.

The rain really did a hefty job of "Equalizing" the grid

Russel not getting points for two years, and then getting a podium out qualifying a Lewis Hamilton. Like they say: When it rains, it pours

The first sector from Russell is absolutely spectacular. Basically putting his life on the line attacking every apex. Amazing lap.

First time this year I didn’t want verstappen to get pole

You have to give credit to the guys at Williams too. They really delivered a car that could compete with the perfect setup. . It's overlooked, but Latifi also managed a sensational qualifying performance.

Jolyon Palmer's spitting bars: "You got Hamilton in the red, Russell in the blue...and what's interesting here is the straight-line speed difference between the two."

I listend to BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday for the race coverage at Spa. You, Jack and Andrew really kept it together for hours. I thoroughly enjoyed everything, from chess, to cheese, to MX5 racing in the wet, unable to keep up with the safety car. In my opinion they should give you all a reward for an incredible entertaining programme in very difficult circumstances. Well done and regards from David.

George is the talking point, but surely F1 should post the fastest lap by Mazepin!

Ziggo analyst Robert Doornbos made a comparison the other day between George's and Max's final lap. It turned out that George was basically ahead of Max during the whole qualification lap. Only at the last Bus Stop chicane did Max overtake him. Which really confirms how impressive that lap of George was.

This reminded me when Seb got a Pole Position in a Torro Rosso in the Wet.

Gives us 2 Mercs or 2 Red Bulls comparisons, I'm interested seeing why there is such a big difference. Please :D

Personally I feel Mazepin's fastest lap in the worst car on the grid is the best of all time

I read somewhere that George knew he'd done a great lap but thought he would be about P7 or P6; he was obviously overjoyed to find that he'd actually got P2

Car makes so much difference. George has so much more steering movement/correction compared to Hamilton in Merc.

Next video: Analysis of Mazepin's fastest lap during the Belgium Grand Prix.

Basically, Russell was able to attack the corners and take much more curb than his rivals because the Williams was running much more downforce, optimized for wet conditions. Merc and Red Bull had a car setup with a potential dry race in mind and hence lower downforce compared to Williams.

After t1 George looked to have almost one second on Lewis

Palmer´s analysis was longer than the actual "race" 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤣🤣

George was definitely working a lot harder on the steering. Almost twice as active on it.

What caught my eye, is the difference in handling the corners. Hamilton is, as you'd expect, much calmer in steering movements, taking no huge risks. Russell, on the other hand, is much more 'fighting' the car in every corner, taking the more aggressive approach. It's the same with every Hamilton/Verstappen comparison we see regularly. That's where you see the difference in experience between the two (three) drivers. The youngsters are attacking every corner, taking a lot of risk, but also gaining lots of time if it works out. Meanwhile, the experienced drivers take a more sensible approach, and rely on their car and their setup. It's very interesting to see.

Phenomenal lap by Russell but the fact Russell isn’t fighting for a championship and can take risks with very little worry about the consequences of a crash where as Lewis is leading the championship doesn’t want to risk a top 4 start by crashing out

I can only imagine how euphoric it was in the Williams garage by the end of Q3, really really stunning performance.

The difference in speeds on the straights lets us all know the Williams had more downforce and focused solely on qualifying and would struggle if ever the track dried up.... Front runners have to compromise a bit in qualifying to have enough pace in case it does dry on Sunday so the set up is a bit more tricky.... That's the nuts and bolts of it. Was this meant up keep the Russell/mercedes narrative going?

Such an amazing and courageous lap from George. He deserves that Merc seat all the way. Chapeau!

Probably the most impressive part is how Russell uses throttle to control the rear of the car and oversteer. That kind of rear control by throttle is something you would see from Schumacher and Senna. Not many can do it with such accuracy. You could really see him not reacting to the oversteer, but actively anticipating it with his throttle control.

Mercedes messed up with their setup. They were relying on dry conditions to come which obviously never came and also too focused on the race even when forecast said rain will get heavier as the weekend progressed.

Are we serious here? To call that pole one off the greatest laps did we start watching f1 yesterday?? Comon man I know you guys wants to pump up George but really one of the greatest laps? I think the media is stretching right about now.

Popular Opinion: Every single one of y'all agrees Palmer Analysis made our Day much better:

Williams bet on a full wet setup, and Mercedes had a compromise?

Rain did bring the cars back together.

ahh how awesome would it have been to see Lando also start in the top 3 with George

Let’s not pretend the merc is faster in a straight JUST because it was carrying less downforce. Anyone in the know will tell you the merc is not only far more aerodynamically efficient and less draggy for any given level of downforce relative to a Williams, but also the Merc factory PU uses the Petronas fuels and lubricants it was designed with, and everyone knows it therefore develops marginally more power than its customer teams.

This was otherworldly! Must have felt like an out-of-body experience for RUS. Given the handling issues of the _FW43B,_ laid bare by the onboards here, the level of risk he takes putting the car on the kerbs was doubly insane! I would have liked to also have seen a comparison to VER's pole lap.

Can you do a segment asking if Hamilton's punt of Verstappen in Silverstone was the best of all time?

"Max was 'there.'" Yeah Max was 3 tenths up, not just "there." Bomb lap from Russell but all things equal and Russell out of the equation, Max eclipsed Lewis.

Analysis about qualifying….what have we come to 😂

Sector 1, that's about it. He figured out the inside corner of turn 1 was dry enough or bansai'ed it hoping for the best.

The straight line speed difference is insane. Hamilton should be worried about Russel next year.

A bit of an exaggeration. If it was the greatest or one of the greatest he would have had P1.

Exceptional Q3 lap from Russell really took the bull by the horns - fantastic. However, I think the difference between Russell's approach and Hamilton's was that Hamilton is in a championship fight, and had to take fewer chances. As for Verstappen, he can only drive one way win or lose, that's flat out.

Simply he was lucky

30 years ago another young driver made a sensational lap in quali at the same venue... we all know the historical rest... hope Mr. Russel can do same type of things in future

F1 is fully dominated by British press.

Would have liked to see a comparison with Verstappen as well, cheers!

I’m very very unqualified to comment on any driving terms but for me, just watching George do that lap... I knew it was a beautiful one. There was just something so beautiful and precise about it 💖❤️ gorgeous one, George

George Russell in the 2nd Mercedes next year, replacing Bottas. That would make for an interesting season. How would Hammy do battling a young teammate for superiority in the team as well as Max for the championship. Probably a 3-way championship battle.

Ever since the moment I've been waiting for this breakdown- THANK YOU!

i'm a big Red Bull/Max fan, but Lewis' lap at Singapore 2018 was actually insane!

In my opinion the best Qualifying lap of all time was Vettels Monza Lap in 2008

can you do one on the last flying lap that lando did in Q2?

Thanks for the side by side and analysis!

The best lap of all time? It is an amazing lap in a car with a great set up. No questions asked. Stil .3 of a second of from the best lap on saturday, just saying.

This analysis also needs to account for the fact that Russel has nothing to lose and can afford to be more aggressive, for him being 10th in the Williams is already a win. Lewis on the other hand has a lot to lose and being 10th is a big loss when compared to taking less risks and being 2nd or 3rd. Not taking anything from Russel, lots of talent, but it's an important factor to consider when comparing the laps under those circumstances.

Another big difference I find out is that Hamilton's steering is more stable/precise while Russel is constantly changing the angle. Is this how Russel's finding the grip or adapting to the wet track?

This comparison came faster than expected...the champ and future champ

George Russel has done amazing job for Williams back to back points for the last two races he has been amazing.

I am a George fan but this guy is a British homer. He will be especially partial to British drivers over the grid.

This is the highlight of the year IMO. Just incredible.

Mercedes gamble with a low down force in what was Sunday wet conditions didn't pay off with a more dry set up. If the Merc guys had set up Hamilton's car as for wet conditions qualifying results would have been very different. With that being said, Russell pulled off a very remarkable qualifying lap.

'One of the best laps of all time'. Oh, by the way, Verstappen was over 3 tenths quicker. What do you call a lap 3 tenths quicker than 'one of the best laps of all time' about 20 seconds later?

Alonso “ Palmer , where is Palmer ? “ Comms “ Palmer has retired “ Alonso “ karma “ 😂

U better give Max credit here too... he beat them all

Just shows how George explored different lines on the wet track I can only assume Georges car was set up wholly for a wet track with higher down force and any other tweeks to help

The race was so boring I thought for sure this analysis would be about Hamilton's bog.

George Russell. The man who'll make Hamilton retire, or, at the very least, change teams. It's Max-Charles-George time... with Lando lurking in the background 🙂

The way Lando and George were taking all of that curb in the wet is something I would never even dare or consider to do in such situations

So Russell takes more curb, which arguably is riskier. So this weeks golden boy Russell gets lucky. Gotcha. Amazing how well drivers can perform when they have nothing to lose. 🙄

Difference is speed with same engine is also likely due to drag, not due to setup, but due to the lines in the car. The engine is not running on its own on that straight.

Excellent explanation.

Also Russell did 2 warmup laps on tire so he had more heat into it and he did the push lap last so he had more grip and made it worth risk and put in a awesome performance

2008 Vettel in the Toro Rosso at Monza was magical. Then won on merit to make it even sweeter.

This is Russel basically saying: Curb your superior car.

I think it's down to the aero on the merc and Williams... That Williams has a lot of drag compared to Mercedes..

George still posted an amazing lap, but to be fair Lewis is nursing a championship lead. Max got pole on his final attempt.

MANNNN i WISH we could get more of that telemetry data to nerd out and study it all in more detail

Genuine question here.. To what extent does the rain equalize the cars exactly. Because if it equals them almost completely, I don't understand why Max' lap isn't praised and reviewed by everyone. George was amazing and very impressive, but 3 tenths is still quicker.. 🤷 So does this gap come from car performance or driver skill? If the answer is car performance, I understand why we're all, including me, so hyped about George's lap. If not, why not review Max' lap, because it's quicker? 🤔

Well well, Russel vs Hamilton comparison is going to be main stream from next year onwards.

Russell in hungary : beats both redbull Russell in Spa : beats both mercedes

that turn 1 made russel had a huge benefit in that lap

Only reason why we are debating this is because he’s British and you Brits know that deep down

The Williams maybe did a better job than most of the teams in Spa, probably because they were the only drivers with the inters at the start of Q1, so Russell and Latifi had a better feel of the track. So, props to the tactics team of Williams.

If George goes to Mercedes, it reminds me ,a little, of what happened at ferrari with Michael and Kimi. Michael was still in his prime, but was nearer the end of his career, like hamilton. Ferrari needed a young fast guy to take over when michael left, the same as mercedes need a young guy to take over from lewis, when he leaves. I would imagine both michael and lewis didn’t want these hotshots coming into “their” team, but michael left and we never got to see how he would have got on racing against kimi, but the beauty of lewis staying and george joining ( if he does!) is we will get to see how well they go against each other. Its going to be worth watching, thats for sure!

*Reads title of video* Tell me Gorge Russell is an English driver without telling me George Russell is an English driver

Incredible lap from George in the Williams!

More impressive did in one lap. Pressure on the lap itself and usually takes more than 1 push lap to get inters to perform at there best. And of course in 8th fastest car too.

I bet Bottas’s heart sank when he saw that time pop up lol, better start looking for a seat my friend lol 👌👌👌

Russel didn't have to lose so he risks everything, Hamilton is about the World Cup so he can't risk that much. Hamilton would certainly have driven the lap differently if it were not about anything and would certainly have risked more and last but not least, Lewis had a dry setup.

How did I know they would use Lewis rather than the pole man just shows you that by pushing Russell gets him to Lewis team and makes it seem likes his better

Of All Time? Eh. Great lap and George deserves his respect and praise for his skills, of all time is a stretch.

His mis calculation at the last 2 corners costed him pole. He was ahead of max the entire time except at the end. It was closer than you think.

Lando also used kerbs, and in simulators in the rain, kerbs gives more grip, i want to know the physics behind this, cause looks a bad choice but pays off

Palmer, you didn't mention the downforce setups of both cars. Lewis went for straight line speed to avoid being a sitting duck and with drs can possibly overtake.

I’m confused because he qualified second...so wasn’t there literally a better lap on this same day

You wonder what time George could have done if he was in a Merc or RB

I would like to raise some points here. Maybe people would agree or disagree but, Lewis being in a slow car than Max and with such close competition in Championship points has to take a safe way in every qualifying race lap. It's cost cap era and every point matters to Mercedes now. On the other hand Wiliams has got absolutely nothing to loose and push way out of limits could do wonders in Wet. We can see how cautious Lewis was when he didn't try hitting on kerbs and took car touching just the white line(left and right chicanes) Highly precise driving skills but obviously conservative on this lap. Hamilton didn't risked to avoid the incident like Lando. It costed McLaren. Next day Perez was out and missed handy points. We can immediately see the drawbacks of pushing hard in Zandvoort when Russell lost rear while pushing hard. We can see totally different Lewis when he is kept last in the grid like Monza 2020 or Hungary 21. Also can't forget that wet battle of Kimi and Lewis in 2008. He was Rookie and had got nothing to loose. He could push hard against World Champion. But nonetheless both are Champion drivers and admire just these two anyday ❤️

What's morw brilliant than the lap itself, is the fact that Russel was testing and setting up on the curbs on the test runs