George Russell said the stewards’ decision not to investigate his sprint race clash with his team mate showed he did nothing wrong.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli called for Russell to receive a penalty after the brush between the pair at turn one. Russell squeezed his team mate off the track on the outside of the corner, while Antonelli insisted he was entitled to racing room.
But while multiple drivers received penalties for other incidents in the race, the clash between the Mercedes pair wasn’t even investigated. Russell said that made it clear he was in the right.
“I didn’t think I did anything wrong and I wasn’t investigated, so I guess the race director and stewards thought the same,” he said. “But I need to check it.
“It is clear that between team mates we race hard and fair and [make] no contact, that’s always the objective. I wasn’t racing Kimi any harder than I would have raced Lando [Norris] in the same position.
“We’re both here fighting to win and always in the past, even last year when we battled, I always gave Kimi a bit more room compared to anyone else. So, as I said, I need to review it. There was nothing untoward with the driving and, as I said, I don’t think it was even investigated. I think that says enough.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told Antonelli twice on his radio to stop complaining about the incident. The trio discussed the clash after the race.
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“We had a discussion and we clarified and now it’s all good,” said Antonelli after qualifying. “So we’ve reviewed and we had a chat with Toto and it’s all good now.”
“We know what we need to do and how we’re going to race each other,” Russell affirmed. “And nothing’s going to change because we’ve always had that respect for one another.
“We’re not going to wave anybody by, it doesn’t matter if he’s a competitor or a team mate. Of course, we know the number one rule is never to crash with your team mate. That isn’t what happened this morning and we finished first and third and that’s what we’ll continue to try and do.”
Penalty box
Antonelli claimed he was entitled to room when he tried to pass Russell because he had drawn far enough alongside his team mate on the way into the corner.
F1’s racing guidelines define how far a driver must be alongside another car in order to be entitled to room when attacking on the outside. The overtaking car must “have its front axle ahead of the front axle of the other car at the apex”, “be driven in a controlled manner from entry, to apex, and to exit” and “be able to make the corner within track limits.”
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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine