George Russell has been reflecting on his wheel-to-wheel battle with teammate Lewis Hamilton during the Miami Grand Prix. Following Lando Norris' collision with Pierre Gasly on Lap 41 of 57, a Virtual Safety Car was called. Russell took advantage of this to pit for fresh Medium tyres, whilst Hamilton stayed out on an older set of the Hards. Russell then emerged into a close fight with Hamilton, and eventually came out on top to claim P5, with Hamilton just behind in P6.
Russell: You've got to show respect with your teammate
When asked about the scrap after the race, Russell admitted that he was aware of having to be a little more cautious due to the other car being his teammate's, but he still enjoyed the duel. "It was good," Russell told Sky Sports F1 . "Obviously, when you're battling with your teammate, you've got to show a bit of respect, and [give a] bit more room than normal. "That was a bit tricky; [I] went a bit off-line there, but it's so dirty off-line around this circuit. "Obviously, I was clear that I went off the track and had to do it all over again, but I enjoyed it, and I think there was good respect between us." Given the different conditions of their tyres during the battle, Russell had sympathy for Hamilton's situation. "Lewis was unlucky today," the former Williams driver said. "When you're on 20-lap-old Hard tyres, there's not a lot you can do really."
Could Russell have finished even higher up?
With Russell initially having to hand the position back to Hamilton after going off track – before then performing the overtake all over again – the move took a little longer than he might have anticipated. However, if he had made the pass sooner, the Briton is not convinced that he could have taken the fight to the leading four cars. "I was pushing as hard as I could," Russell explained. "It was a brutal race out there. I was so hot, sweating. My eyes were stinging, I had sweat pouring into my eyes, so I need to find a way to get around that. "There was one point where I thought, 'Here we go, we're getting a bit closer,' but ultimately, those guys are just quicker than us, and we need to unlock this performance that we do have in the car."
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