George Russell and Lando Norris take Highway Code quiz
George Russell’s ‘polite’ radio messages did not reflect how he was feeling in the car at the Japanese Grand Prix, according to former F1 star Anthony Davidson. The Mercedes man came close to contact with team-mate Lewis Hamilton as they jostled for position in the absence of Toto Wolff.
The Silver Arrows’ team principal did not make the trip to Suzuka due to undergoing surgery on his cruciate ligament. Observing the race at close quarters would have spiked his stress levels, with Hamilton and Russell left to fight it out on track.
In one particular incident, Russell got a run on Hamilton, who responded by pushing him wide. The former Williams star then piped up on the team radio, questioning: “Are we fighting each other or the others?”
Davidson, who raced in 24 Grands Prix between 2002 and 2008, believes that Russell would have been more vocal if his standing in the team – in relation to Hamilton – was different.
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“George is still the understudy, and he’s doing a very good job on those occasions where he’s got the speed over Lewis to really take the fight to him,” Davidson told the Sky Sports F1 podcast. “But he’s doing it in such a George Russell polite way, which is quite humorous to watch, because I know inside the car, he’ll be fuming and steaming.
“And that’s why we see the near misses, the drivers coming almost to blows, almost to contact, but then he’s a good boy on the radio, he’s very British about it.
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“And there are layers to him, to the annoyance, I think. It always comes over as, ‘I’m okay with this, but if you could please, very thankfully, let me through with the next couple of opportunities, it’d be much appreciated.’ And we’d hear him maybe be a bit more vocal if things were different. But I think for now, I think he knows where he is in the team.”
Tensions threatened to boil over late in the Japanese Grand Prix, when Russell was caught by Hamilton while attempting to nurse his Mercedes home on worn-out, hard-compound tyres. “If you want to play the team game… he pushed by off the track earlier,” the 25-year-old told his race engineer.
The Silver Arrows swapped the drivers regardless, and Carlos Sainz also caught Russell before the chequered flag. “When you’re in the car 48 laps in, you’re giving it everything and you’re making a sub-optimal strategy to try and work, that radio is a vent to release some frustration,” he explained.
“It’s been a complete disaster of a season, so many missed chances. Lewis is in a really good position for P3. Standing here now, it’s all good.”
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