George Russell 'shocked' by FIA call after 'extraordinarily dangerous' Brazil moment

George Russell says he was “shocked” by the call to go ahead with Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix as the weather deteriorated.

In the middle of the exciting race, rain hit hard; Russell took the lead from Lando Norris and led the first part of the Grand Prix before his pit stop; The pit stop was red flagged on lap 32 following Franco Colapinto’s crash.

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

As the race continued as the weather worsened, several drivers opted to switch to fully wet tires in Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda. Red Bull and VCARB drivers spend seconds staying in the middle.

The top three of Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly remained out until the red flag was called, but with the worst of the rain on track the Safety Car was extinguished in advance; Colapinto crashed under Safety Car conditions. Ask for the red flag.

This pause allowed drivers free choice of tyres; The Mercedes driver expressed his disappointment at not staying out in the belief that the yellow or red flag would come eventually; but he said he and his team are in this together. to strategy calls.

However, given his inability to throttle around the left corner on the start/finish straight and poor visibility as the weather deteriorated, Russell expressed surprise that the trial had now been stopped earlier.

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

“So we could barely stand on the flat road, it was like I couldn’t keep my foot on the gas.

“The car was aquaplaning, which was extremely dangerous for a few laps, but I think they’re enjoying the action.”

As for Russell, he was the highest finisher among those who stopped before the red flag; Lando Norris admitted after the race that his compatriot was a potentially deserving winner on Sunday; But Verstappen’s rise from 17th in the standings to victory was dramatic. .

While Russell explained his initial concern about not being left out to benefit from the same ‘free’ tire selection as those ahead of him, he offered insight into the team’s processes in this area in wet races.

“You know, we are in this together as a team and before the weekend we would have already finished 4th,” he added.

“We’ll get through this. Sometimes it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen, everyone is doing the best they can and making the best calls with the information available.

“Normally when it’s dry it’s the team’s call to say ‘let’s go to the slippery ground’, when it gets wet it’s normally the driver’s call to the rainy ground or inters to the wet ground.

“I was good, I was very sure it was going to go to the safety car or the red flag because it was like driving a boat.”