After a fierce battle with Oscar Piastri late in the Japanese Grand Prix, George Russell felt he gave him enough room in the run-off.
As Russell attempted to relieve the McLaren driver of P7, he sent it down the inside of Piastri at the chicane. The two briefly made contact before Piastri cut part two of the chicane and came back to the track ahead of Russell.
Oscar Piastri was not run off the road by George Russell, according to him.
Russell eventually overtook Piastri in the last lap, but he had to wait anxiously for his result to be confirmed while the stewards investigated the incident. Russell was greatly relieved when they decided not to take any further action.
Nevertheless, Russell doesn’t think he forced Piastri off the track during that altercation.
Russell told Sky F1, “It was a late move from my side down the inside, made contact.” “I believe there was sufficient space for both of us to stay on course, and he clearly keeps going.
“If I had finished the race behind him, I think I would have been a little bit more upset.”
Russell took a different approach from Piastri, opting for a one-stop race instead of a two-stopper. Russell was pleased with Mercedes for providing him with the hard tyre during the early race restart after the race was red-flagged following a collision between Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon on the first lap.
“We had the option to do a one-stop or a two-stop, so I think it was the right decision to start on the hard,” Russell stated.
“You are obligated to the two-stop if you begin on the medium after the red flag.
“The first stint was a little difficult for me because I was lagging behind Lewis Hamilton, my Mercedes teammate, who was having some trouble with the fronts. It would have been nice to be in the lead-up to that pit stop because I believe we were in line with Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.”
Red Bull was clearly in the lead, and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari finished third, followed by Leclerc, another teammate, and then Norris, Russell, Piastri, and Fernando Alonso.
With the upcoming round in China, which Russell believes will suit Mercedes better, the British driver believes that there is not much separating his team from Ferrari, McLaren, and Aston Martin. Therefore, he believes that qualifying will decide who will lead the “best of the rest” group.
“I believe that when you see how near… In a matter of seconds, Oscar and Fernando were with three distinct manufacturers, Russell thought. “The truth is, all four of those teams—aside from Red Bull—are very closely matched.
“And I believe that qualifying will be the deciding factor. On the grid, I believe it was one or two tenths of a point between P4 and P8. And I believe that the person who is able to qualify at the front of the pack will also finish there.
“We all know we have work to do and won’t settle for second best, but I believe China and the upcoming tracks will suit us better than the previous three.”
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