Russell critical of Leclerc: "Questionable defense, not allowed by the regulations"

Mercedes driver George Russell commented on Charles Leclerc’s defense in the early stages of the Silverstone Grand Prix, accusing the Monegasque driver of moving under braking multiple times and not respecting the regulations. During the first stint of the race, the British driver showed better pace with the soft tires compared to Charles Leclerc’s used mediums, but he was never able to make a decisive move on the Ferrari SF-23 car in braking.

“I did my best to overtake Charles,” George Russell said at the end of the Grand Prix. “It was a questionable defense. Under braking into Turn 16, I was about to dive on the inside, and right in the braking zone, he moved quite aggressively. Clearly, that is not allowed by the regulations.”

The Mercedes driver also complained about the lack of investigation by the stewards regarding Charles Leclerc’s conduct: “I think they gave him a slap on the wrist but when you’ve got one overtaking opportunity and you get a warning for it, it’s pretty frustrating.”

Nevertheless, the president of the GPDA emphasized that he does not intend to fuel major controversies: “I don’t feel the need to do so. It was very on the limit, but I have to review the video. It seemed on the limit from inside the car, or maybe just above. I haven’t seen the replay, so I’m not too concerned at the moment.” – he added – “It wouldn’t have changed my race. If I had overtaken him, I probably would have pitted earlier. Both McLarens probably would have covered me, so I probably would have finished fifth. Those McLarens, it was really impressive to see how fast they were. Our pace was probably better than we expected compared to Red Bull, Aston [Martin] and Ferrari, but McLaren have clearly turned it up. That’s two races now at two very different circuits they’ve definitely been a small step ahead of us. I thought it was going to be clear-cut Lewis and I for P2, P3 and see you later but I couldn’t believe how well they turned the tyres on and got it going. I see no reason why the reason why they shouldn’t be up there now. I was impressed with Piastri‘s driving and what he’s been doing this season. I felt bad that he lost out on the podium because Lando and he deserved to be standing there. We’ve come from the Red Bull Ring which is a very different circuit to Silverstone and they were a small step ahead of us on both occasions so I don’t know how they’re found this much performance, it’s been quite surprising. We don’t tend to focus too much on our competitors we just need to keep focusing on ourselves. Yes, it gives me inspiration that it can be possible you know we we need to try and turn it up and we need to find more performance and quick.” – the Mercedes man concluded.

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Perhaps in an attempt to cover themselves against a potential undercut from car number 63, Scuderia Ferrari called Charles Leclerc to the pits, even though the twentieth lap had not even started. The race was then decided by the entry of the Safety Car, with George Russell ultimately finishing fifth. On the other hand, the Monegasque driver slipped down to ninth position at the end of the British Grand Prix.