George Russell has revealed he was “expecting a crash” with Max Verstappen at the start of Formula 1‘s Qatar Grand Prix amid his rival’s anger at losing pole position.
Verstappen edged Russell to pole, but he lost that advantage with a one-place grid drop as the stewards determined that he had impeded the Mercedes on an out lap.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner admitted pre-race that the verdict had fired up Verstappen, who has stated that he’s “lost respect” for how Russell handled the incident.
Verstappen channelled his wrath in the right manner on this occasion, though, as he nailed the launch to pull alongside Russell to take the lead on the inside at Turn 1.
Russell, who came home fourth as Verstappen won, has revealed that he had anticipated a clash at the start based on the Dutchman’s outrage with his grid demotion.
“Yeah, to be honest, I was expecting a crash,” Russell told media including Motorsport Week.
“But ultimately we made it easy for him because both Lewis [Hamilton] and I made a terrible start.
“So it was a pretty simple overtake for him, which was a bit frustrating for us.
“But it’s strange how when things are working and the car is quick, everything seems to work so well.
“And when the car is off the pace a bit, everything just seems to go wrong. Today was a great example of that.”
Mercedes pace surprised Russell
Russell had been tipped to attain consecutive victories, but he also dropped behind Lando Norris’ McLaren on the first lap and was unable to live with the leading two.
The Briton, who showed good pace in the Sprint to trail the McLaren cars, expressed that Mercedes’ struggles compared to earlier in the weekend came as a surprise.
“No, there’s no concerns. We know Max is a fighter and is aggressive,” he acknowledged. “I expect no different.
“I really wanted to go out there and fight with him today like we could have done in the Sprint.
“But yesterday in the Sprint he was probably two or three-tenths behind us. Today we were two or three-tenths behind him.
“It just goes to show what a night can do in this sport. It’s always on a knife’s edge. It’s a shame we didn’t have the pace when it mattered.”
Russell grateful to salvage fourth
Russell remained in contention for a podium until a seven-second pit stop pushed him back into the pack, where he got stuck behind Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin.
However, Carlos Sainz’s puncture and Norris receiving a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for a yellow flag infringement meant that Russell recovered to fourth position.
Russell maintained that spot come the chequered flag, despite picking up his own five-second time penalty for leaving more than 10 car widths behind the Safety Car.
“I think P4 is probably a flattering result considering how the race went,” he professed.
“It’s funny how the sport changes overnight. Everything was great on Friday, Saturday was a great day. We had no pace today.
“At best we were two or three-tenths behind Max and Lando.
“Start was bad, had a slow pit stop. Penalty, I don’t even know what for, to be honest. So, yeah, it’s a stretch.”
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