George Russell makes Oscar Piastri claim after fierce fight between F1’s two rising stars

George Russell felt he gave Oscar Piastri enough space as the latter took to the run-off during their hard battle late in the Japanese Grand Prix.

Russell sent it down the inside of Piastri at the chicane as he looked to relieve the McLaren driver of P7, the pair touching briefly as Piastri then cut part two of the chicane and returned to the track ahead of Russell.

George Russell denies running Oscar Piastri off the road

Russell would ultimately pass Piastri on the final lap, though had a nervous wait for confirmation of his result as the stewards looked into the incident, though Russell could breathe a huge sigh of relief when they decided to take no further action.

That being said, Russell does not believe he forced Piastri off the track in that scrap.

“It was a late move from my side down the inside, made contact,” Russell told Sky F1. “I think there was enough room for us both to stay on the track and he obviously continues on.

“I think I would have been a little bit more upset had I finished the race behind him.”

Russell went on the alternate strategy to Piastri as the Mercedes driver executed a one-stop race versus Piastri’s two-stopper, Russell praising Mercedes’ choice to give him the hard tyre at the early race restart, after the race had been red flagged due to Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon colliding on the opening lap.

“I think it was the right decision starting on the hard because it gave us the flexibility to do the one-stop or the two-stop,” said Russell.

“If you start on the medium after the red flag, you’re committed to the two-stop.

“It was a bit of a challenge in the first stint, I was stuck behind Lewis [Hamilton, Mercedes team-mate], he was struggling a bit with the fronts, and would have been good to be in that fight ahead because after that first pit-stop, I think we were line-on-line with Lando [Norris] and Charles [Leclerc] ahead.”

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With Red Bull clear out front, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completed the podium, followed by his team-mate Leclerc, then Norris, Fernando Alonso, Russell and Piastri.

And looking ahead to the next round in China, a track which Russell expects will suit Mercedes better, the Brit sees precious little between his team, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin, so suspects qualifying will determine who heads that ‘best of the rest’ pack.

“I think when you look how close… There was three different manufacturers with Oscar and Fernando within a couple of seconds,” Russell reflected. “The fact is it’s extremely close between those four teams bar Red Bull.

“And I think it’s going to come down to qualifying. It was I think one or two-tenths between P4 to P8 on the grid. And I think whoever manages to qualify at the front of that pack will finish at the front of that pack.

“We know we’ve got work to do and none of us are content with fighting for second best, but I think China and the tracks coming up will suit us better than the last three.”

Mercedes remain P4 in the Constructors’ Championship going into the Chinese Grand Prix, 35 points behind McLaren.

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