His team-mate has yet to be decided with rumours suggesting both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu could be out with Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon reportedly in the running.
Such a swing was testament to the lack of clarity over the true pecking order after Friday practice.
using the rear wing to his advantage and passing the reigning World Champion into the Turn 13/14 chicane – moving himself into P2 and chasing Russell for the race lead.
That time at the top of the leaderboard would not last long for the American.