UNITED KINGDOM: George Russell expressed frustration with Charles Leclerc’s defending maneuvers during the British Grand Prix, labeling them “very borderline.” Although Russell does not plan to raise the issue at the following drivers’ meeting, he believes Leclerc’s actions were questionable.
Starting behind the Ferraris, he utilized his soft tires to his advantage, quickly overtaking Carlos Sainz and settling in fifth place behind Leclerc.
However, the Monégasque driver repeatedly thwarted his attempts to pass, as Leclerc forcefully closed the door, executing at least one double move during his defensive maneuvers.
Russell voiced his dissatisfaction, stating, “If that’s not moving under braking, then I don’t know what is.”
Leclerc’s engineer, Xavier Marcos Padros, echoed the Mercedes driver’s frustrations and instructed Leclerc over the radio, saying, “No more moving under braking.”
Eventually, Russell found an opportunity to overtake when Leclerc made a pit stop. He secured a fifth-place finish in the race, while Leclerc could only manage ninth.
Despite his disappointment with his rivals’ defending tactics, Russell believes that the punishment handed to Leclerc, described as a “slap on the wrist,” was insufficient.
Russell pinpointed the braking into Turn 16 as the specific point of contention, explaining, “I was about to lunge him down inside, and right at the braking zone, he came across pretty aggressively. That’s not allowed in the rules.”
However, he acknowledged that he has yet to review the incident on video and is not overly concerned about it.
In addition to his frustrations with Leclerc, Russell also encountered difficulty passing Oscar Piastri after a Safety Car restart.
Despite being on faster soft tires compared to Piastri’s harder compound, Russell could not make progress and eventually fell out of the DRS range.
His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, faced a similar challenge while battling Lando Norris’s McLaren for second place.
Reflecting on the race, Russell expressed surprise at the strong performance of the McLaren cars, saying, “I thought it was going to be clear cut, Lewis and I P2 and P3, and see you later.”
He believed that the medium/hard tire strategy was the wrong choice and that the soft tires provided a significant advantage for his rivals.
While Russell does not intend to address the issue in the upcoming drivers’ meeting at the Hungarian Grand Prix, he hopes that the FIA will review the incident and appropriate action taken to prevent similar questionable defending moves in future races.
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