“It was frustrating when I had to give my position back to Lewis”- George Russell looks back on battling teammate Lewis Hamilton on track at the Miami GP

Mercedes teammates George Russell and Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a clean hard battle against one another at the Miami GP on Sunday. 

The Miami GP was always going to be about damage limitation for Russell. After showing promise during FP2 on Friday, Mercedes once again fell of in terms of performance during Qualifying.

Russell managed to qualify P12 for the race, six positions behind teammate Hamilton. However, a brilliant drive and smart strategy saw him continue his streak of finishing top five in every single race this season.

During the race, we saw Russell and Hamilton go up against one another at one point. We’ve rarely seen the two battle it out on track this campaign and it did not disappoint. There were no scraps, instead fans were treated to clean hard wheel to wheel racing between the two Brits. After the race, Russell shared his thoughts on his on-track tussle with the seven time World Champion.

George is instructed to allow Lewis through as his overtake was completed off track.

They complete the swap.

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 8, 2022

“Yeah we kept it clean,” Russel said. “You know when you’re battling your teammate, you’ve got to make sure you make no silly mistakes. And leave a little bit of extra room.”

“Obviously it was a bit frustrating when I had to give the position back when I went a bit wide. That’s how the game goes.”

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The track in Miami was not fun to race on, says George Russell

We saw quite a few overtakes during the race yesterday, but some drivers have called the track out for being too tricky. Over the course of the weekend, many complained about the lack of grip and safety measures around the circuit, and Russell followed suit post race.

He says that lack of grip forced a lot of them to spin off track towards the barriers. It’s not something the FIA has commented on yet, but the 23-year old hopes that they make these changes ahead of the next Miami GP.

We maximised the result that was possible today and both drivers did a good job to score good points for the Team – but we have to feel for Lewis who had even more bad luck with the Safety Car.

Onwards to Spain. And another chance to make a step forward. 👊 pic.twitter.com/qwKeeLD41R

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 8, 2022

“It was really difficult racing here,” the former Williams driver continued. “There were so many marbles off line and you put one wheel off and slid towards the barriers. We saw it with Valtteri and a couple of other drivers on the last corner. Anyway P5, and now it’s time to unlock the (better) performance.”

George Russell is currently fourth in the Drivers’ Standings with 59 points to his name.

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