George Russell ‘shocked’ by FIA call after ‘exceptionally dangerous’ Brazil moment

George Russell said he was “shocked” by the call to continue as the weather deteriorated at Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Rain fell heavily midway through an exciting race, with Russell having taken the lead from Lando Norris and leading the first part of the Grand Prix before his pit stop, which was eventually red flagged on lap 32 following a crash by Franco Colapinto.

George Russell ‘shocked’ by decision to continue race in wet conditions

As the race continued as the weather deteriorated, a number of drivers opted to switch to fully wet tyres, Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda, with the Red Bull and VCARB drivers take seconds off to stay on intermediates.

The eventual top three of Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly remained out until the red flag was finally called, but the Safety Car was turned off beforehand as the worst of the rain covered the track – with Colapinto crashing under Safety Car conditions. raising the red flag.

The break gave the drivers free choice of tires, with the Mercedes driver expressing his frustration at not staying out in the belief that a yellow or red flag would eventually come – although he said he and the team are ‘in this together’ when it comes down to it. to strategy discussions.

But given that he was unable to stay on the accelerator in the left-hand kink on the start/finish straight and that visibility was poor as the weather deteriorated, Russell expressed surprise that the proceedings were now stopped early.

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“I was shocked, to be honest,” Russell said Sky F1 after the race.

“I mean, we could barely hold on, I couldn’t keep my foot on the gas on the straight.

“The car suffered from aquaplaning, exceptionally dangerous for those few laps, but they like action, I think.”

As for Russell, he was the highest finisher of those who stopped before the red flag, with Lando Norris admitting after the race that his compatriot may have been the deserving winner on Sunday – although Verstappen’s rise from 17th on the grid for the victory was dramatic. .

When explaining his initial concern about not staying out to benefit from the same ‘free’ tire choice as those before him, Russell provided insight into the team’s processes in this area during wet racing.

“You know, we’re in this together as a team and we would have taken P4 before the weekend,” he added.

‘We’ll discuss it. Sometimes it is difficult to predict what will happen. Everyone does their best and makes the best decisions with the information available.

“Normally, when it dries, it’s the team’s call to say ‘let’s go to slicks’. When it gets wetter, it is normally the driver’s call to say slicks to inter or inters to rain.

“I was pretty, well, I was confident it was going to be a Safety Car or a red flag because it was like driving a boat.”

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