A red flag mid-way through the opening session of Sunday morning’s qualifying came after Williams’ Franco Colapinto hit the barriers at Turn 3.
This spelt trouble for Mercedes with both Hamilton and facing elimination.
But while Russell advanced safely as the session resumed, Hamilton found himself in 16th and two-tenths from making it into Q2.
“That car was undrivable,” Hamilton told race engineer Peter Bonnington during his in-lap.
The Mercedes driver continued his scathing assessment after the session.
“Yeah, not a great day,’m not going to be negative. It is what it is.
“I don’t have any hopes for the race. I’m just going to do what I can do.
“The car that I have right now is the worst that I’ve ever driven so I probably won’t be going very far with it.
“Maybe I’ll start from the pit lane. I don’t know, we’ll see. But it’s undrivable.”
With Hamilton suffering, Russell and who scraped through Q1 in 15th – went on to lockout the front row.
After finishing second to his McLaren rival, Russell acknowledged just how tricky conditions were in qualifying.
“It was just so challenging out there,” Russell said.
“Lando was on pole and quickest in Q2 and Q3 and did a great job.
“In Q1, he was [almost] knocked out, so it just goes to show how quickly your fortunes can turn.
“I think in normal circumstances, we know we’re a good couple of tenths off these guys.”
From facing a Q1 elimination to heading to the front row, Russell was pleased with his Sunday morning performance.
“You’re only a minor mistake away from having huge consequences,” he explained.
“It was so up and down. Again, at the start of Q1, we looked like we were out of the top 15.
“Then also, just getting about one lap in at the end to be on the front row. I’m pretty pleased with that.”
Moreover, with drivers around him engaged in a title battle, Russell implied he can carry more risk in the race. “It may be a little bit difficult to race this afternoon,” Russell said.
“But obviously, the guys around me have got more to lose than we have.
“They’re all in their championship fights, so that gives us a small opportunity.”
