George Russell launched an attack on Charles Leclerc following their duel at the Hungarian GP.
Following a difficult run of races for Mercedes, George Russell returned to the podium at the Hungarian GP.
Gaining a place on Lando Norris at the start, he ran a aggressive race to seal the final podium place after an eventful afternoon.
Speaking in the FIA post race press conference, George Russell outlined what the result meant to him and the team.
“Yeah, it’s good to be back on the podium. It’s obviously been a challenging run of form for us as a team these last six or so races, so it’s a great way to enter the break.
Asked why Mercedes found form at the Hungaroring, Russell said the team chose to roll back on upgrades, as well as another major factor.
“We reverted on some of the items we brought. Early in the season we brought a new rear suspension that clearly wasn’t performing as we’d have hoped.
“But it was also a pretty unique weekend. You see the results by McLaren, and it was quite an unusual finishing order from P3 down.
“Obviously, Max was quite out of position. The Astons had a really strong race weekend as well. So, I don’t think we should get carried away with the result. But, clearly, in terms of pace, it was our best race of the season bar Canada.”
Anger at driving of Charles Leclerc at the Hungarian GP
In the closing stages of the Hungarian GP, George Russell’s strategy saw him rapidly close on Charles Leclerc.
With the Ferrari struggling for pace, Russel made his move on lap 64. Leclerc moved while under braking, incurring the wrath of the stewards who awarded him a five-second time penalty. Asked to outline why he felt aggrieved by the move, George Russell did not hold back.
“ You know, when you’re coming down the straight at 330 and you sort of dive into the corner, you’re right on the limit of your car’s grip.
“You can’t just brake and turn to avoid somebody because you’re already at the limit of that grip. So, I made my intentions really clear, diving to the inside, and he moved after he had committed to braking, which is not allowed in the rules because of that reason. So, he did it once. I wasn’t happy about it.
Russell then elaborated on how he perfected the move at the second attempt, including making like contact with the Ferrari.
“Second time, I was like, well, I’m going to just send it down the inside now, and he did it again, and we made contact. I was glad to get by. But I think when you watch it on TV, you think, “Oh, why can’t you just turn to avoid it?” But as I said, you are right on the limit of the car’s potential.
