In the recent Dutch GP, George Russell acknowledged that his team Mercedes‘ strategy of swapping positions with his teammate Kimi Antonelli was the right decision. With Lando Norris leading the race, Russell and Antonelli were competing for second place against Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari.
With a virtual safety car activated due to an accident involving Esteban Ocon, Mercedes was forced to react. Hamilton took advantage of this situation to make a pit stop, prompting the team to bring in Antonelli instead of Russell, positioning him defensively against Ferrari’s maneuver.
Russell, who stayed out, ultimately found himself in a dilemma when Antonelli started pressuring him to pass. Although he was instructed to yield his spot to his teammate, Russell questioned the decision at the moment, though he ultimately accepted it. ‘Kimi had a quicker pace on his new tires and would have passed me anyway,’ he admitted.
Despite the difficulties, Russell successfully defended his third position against Hamilton, adding a double podium finish for Mercedes. The British driver expressed his satisfaction with the team’s form after a long wait to return to the podium.
On the other hand, Antonelli thanked Russell for his collaboration and acknowledged the strength of McLaren recently. ‘George has been a great teammate and I’m sure we need to improve to face the challenge that competition poses to us,’ he commented.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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