World never sees Mercedes photos like this

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both failed to make it into the third qualifying session in a crazy day of qualifying that saw sessions red flagged five times. Watch Every Practice, Qualifying & Race of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship™ Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >Hamilton said Mercedes “underperformed as a team” as the world champions failed to have a car in Q3 for the first time since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix — ending their run of 187 consecutive appearances in the final qualifying session.On a wet day where cars went skidding all over the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Mercedes’ flop was still the biggest story unfolding. World champion Max Verstappen secured pole position for Sunday’s sprint race after outpacing Charles Leclerc by 1.2 seconds in the rain-hit qualifying which included a series of crashes. The sessions were stopped five times as a result of the carnage and dangerous conditions. At the back of the grid, Mercedes struggled to deal with the challenging conditions.The team couldn’t hide their frustration and it all boiled over when cameras captured Hamilton’s animated exchange with team boss Toto Wolff during one of the many red flag interruptions in the session.Hamilton said his discussion with Wolff was private and he would not be sharing any of its contents.The ugly moment showed a Mercedes sight the Formula 1 world never sees.“It is all internal stuff,” he said.“I won’t be sharing that. We will just keep working. It is what it is. We will just keep working hard. Each weekend is a rescue.”He insists the team has room to improve.“It wasn’t a great session,” said Hamilton.“Naturally, it is disappointing. We came here with optimism and everyone is working really hard at the factory and then things just don’t come together.“I think we underperformed as a team. There were things we should have done that we didn’t do today.”At the front of the grid, Verstappen was dominant. It was his first pole this season and the 12th of his career. Lando Norris was third for McLaren ahead of Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Fernando Alonso of Alpine and Daniel Ricciardo, who was sixth in the second McLaren.Sergio Perez was seventh in the second Red Bull ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Aston Martin.The opening session began with drama when, shortly after Lance Stroll set the pace in 1:23.419 on dry slick tyres, Alexander Albon’s right-rear brake caught fire, flames flicking in the air to prompt a red-flag interruption before the brake exploded.Debris flew across the circuit as the London-born Thai driver steered his Williams to safety, followed by a six-minute stoppage.It was the first of several moments where cars went off the road.Starting grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint raceFront row: Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)2nd row: Lando Norris (McLaren), Kevin Magnussen (Haas)3rd row: Fernando Alonso (Alpine-Renault), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)4th row: Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)5th row: Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)6th row: George Russell (Mercedes), Mick Schumacher (Haas)7th row: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)8th row: Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)9th row: Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Nicholas Latifi (Williams)10th row: Esteban Ocon (Alpine-Renault), Alexander Albon (Williams) Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au