Charles Leclerc exposes George Russell trick after Ferrari instruction

Charles Leclerc has exposed the tricks Mercedes and George Russell tried to play during their battle for the final podium place at the Japanese Grand Prix. 

Leclerc ultimately succeeded in the battle for third place at Suzuka after a duel with the Briton after they had both cleared Lewis Hamilton following the safety car restart.

It came after Russell had passed Leclerc into the final chicane, before roaring back past into Turn 1 at the start of the following lap, with the Ferrari claiming Leclerc's second podium from three races. 

Reflecting on the battle following the race, Leclerc revealed how Mercedes had tried to trick him with its instructions through Russell's race engineer, Marcus Dudley, which were counteracted by Leclerc's Bryan Bozzi.

"It was quite tight at some points, and they were also being quite cheeky because I think his engineer was telling him things on the radio," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365. 

"My engineer was telling me what his engineer was telling on the radio, but he was doing the opposite, and that put me under quite a bit of pressure. 

"At one point, I think they told me: 'Oh, he’s being told to use everything in the back straight,' or vice versa, or maybe in the main straight, and then for four laps in a row, he was doing exactly the opposite of that. 

"So, I understood it pretty quickly, and I could defend.

"But at one point I got surprised in the last corner, but it was quite a fun race. 

"Unfortunately, a little bit unlucky for us because of the safety car at the wrong moment. 

"I don’t think it would have changed our race significantly, but it made it a little bit more difficult for our second stint for sure."