George Russell was delighted to “bring it home” in P3 after a tense battle with Sergio Perez at the French Grand Prix.
The Briton caught the Red Bull driver napping at a late Virtual Safety Car restart to secure Mercedes’ first double podium of the season with Lewis Hamilton in second.
However, before that pivotal moment, the pair had made light contact as Russell dived down the inside at the chicane along the Mistral Straight.
The moment of contact between Sergio Perez and George Russell! ?#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/wNtGn73cK9
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022
Leaving George left livid that the stewards had not made Perez hand him the place.
“I saw him struggling when [Carlos] Sainz got past,” he explained.
“For me, I was down the inside, the rules are pretty clear, it’s front wheel to rear wheel when you are on the inside.
“That’s what I had. [He] didn’t really leave me much space, but nevertheless, I am glad I carried on to bring it home P3.”
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Offering his view on the incident, Perez said: “I don’t think there was much to look at. He went for it but I just had to cut the chicane.
“If I didn’t cut the corner we would have retired both cars. He just went for it and we did contact. I was ahead and yeah, he was out of control, so I had to escape.”
Once ahead, Russell had a tense run to the finish as the Mexican tried to fight back in the closing laps.
“I am absolutely sweating, I am a bit knackered now, to be honest,” he smiled.
That was a cool race!! Mega happy to be back on the podium after some hard battles and even better to make it a double for @MercedesAMGF1 with @LewisHamilton. Let’s keep pushing, team. ? pic.twitter.com/EwcavVpTdk
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) July 24, 2022
“It was a long race, a tough race, the pace was strong but we really struggled with the warm-up on that restart and Checo was all over me.
“But I was glad to see that chequered flag and come home P3. Two podiums for Mercedes is great.”