Speaking about the 0.078 seconds gap between them as they lined up fifth and seventh, Hamilton was eager to suggest that he never had any realistic chance of beating Russell because of their different-specification cars.
“The team have worked really hard back at the factory to bring an upgrade in the last two races and also an upgrade this weekend - but we only had one, which George has,” he told Sky. “I anticipated it would be difficult to outqualify George because he has the upgraded component.
