Cameras picked up Lewis Hamilton & Toto Wolff having heated discussion during quali disaster

Lewis Hamilton will start in 13th place in today’s Sprint race at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

In pole position is Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and behind him is the very popular Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton just managed to scrape out of Q1 by four thousandths of a second and then was affected by the weather in Q2.

His Mercedes teammate George Russell was also unable to snatch a top 10 spot after finishing in 11th. The red flag and the treacherous conditions meant he failed to improve on his Q2 lap.

The two Silver Arrows will be chasing the rest of the grid’s heavyweights which may seem like an intimidating feat.

This ended a very impressive 187 consecutive races where both drivers from Mercedes have contested Q3. The end of this run and a dismal start means the team principal Toto Wolff is beginning to feel the pressure.

Wolff has been spotted giving Hamilton a stern talking to after the Mercedes star failed to make it out of Q2 on Friday.

{Credit F1TV}

It was difficult to make out what was being said and the footage was not clear enough to make sense of the conversation, but the perception was that it was a testy exchange.

Following their heated exchange, Hamilton has come out to clear the air. “It was all internal stuff. I do not want to share what was said.

“You come here with optimism – you know everyone is working really hard at the factory – and when things just don’t come together, it is disappointing.

“We underperformed as a team today. There are things we should have done which we did not do but we will work as hard as we can to move up in the Sprint race. Hopefully tomorrow is better weather wise and we can move forward.

“We will just keep working hard, but each weekend is a rescue (effort).”

The Mercedes team