George Russell details 'kind' Lewis Hamilton gesture after Mercedes F1 star crashed

After introducing a promising upgrade as Formula 1 made its return, Mercedes had a nightmare Saturday in Austin, Texas as Lewis Hamilton qualified in 19th and George Russell crashed out of qualifying

Lewis Hamilton offered his Mercedes team-mate George Russell the opportunity to use some of his car parts to utilise the contructor's full upgrade once again at the United States Grand Prix.

Merecedes endured a miserable day at the Circuit of the Americas as Hamilton's efforts were first only good enough to qualify in 19th - he will line up 18th on the grid because Liam Lawson will serve an engine-related grid penalty - before Russell crashed in the final round of qualification. The 26-year-old finished sixth fastest brought but brought a premature end to qualifying when he lost control at 125mph and hit into a barrier.

The Brit denied Red Bull racer Max Verstappen an opportunity at pole position as his hot lap was interrupted and McLaren star Lando Norris finished fastest. In the Sprint earlier in the day, Russell had started in second position but slipped to fifth while Hamilton was only sixth as both lacked pace and tyre degradation, as Verstappen earned victory.

Russell's rebuild following his crash sees him without the necessary parts to implement the upgrades Mercedes had employed this weekend. The team had brought a major aerodynamic upgrade, including a reprofiled front wing that had drawn a positive review.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton made the offer to solve Russell's issue. The younger team-mate turned down the proposal however.

"Lewis has already kindly offered me his [upgraded parts] but we are not gonna do that," Russell revealed. ""It's a real shame, everyone back at base deserves better but we're all pushing the limits here to try and get the car on the front row and fight for big results and we achieved it yesterday, today it's the opposite."

Hamilton has already made it clear that he would like to see a change to his vehicle in time for the race and is happy to start from the pitlane to enable it. The Formula 1 legend indirectly asked his team to break parc ferme rules and make set-up changes to improve his car.

Hamilton said: "In the Sprint we had some sort of failure on the formation lap on the front suspension and I had that throughout the Sprint race. That made the balance really difficult.

"We did change a couple of things to push us in the direction of what we would have done yesterday and the car was a nightmare today in qualifying. I should probably start in the pit lane, otherwise I will not be going anywhere. It was just an inconsistent balance and no grip."

Sunday will see Norris and Verstappen battle on the front row in Austin as their pair continue their race for the drivers' championship. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc took the next two spots with Oscar Piastri in fifth also starting the race ahead of Russell.