During the safety car period caused by the breakdown of Bottas ‘ Alfa Romeo, George Russell took the opportunity to, by his own decision, order a set of soft tires for the final laps of the race.
At that point Russell relinquished second place to race winner Max Verstappen while Hamilton stuck to his used medium tyres, ultimately costing him the lead when Verstappen stalked the Briton on the bank of Turn 14 and passed at the end of the straight.
Russell caught up and passed Lewis Hamilton before lap 64, but came within inches of colliding with the rear of his team-mate’s car when he cut the slipstream to put his W13 on the inside at Turn 1.
According to the 24-year-old pilot, it was a moment of confusion between the two as they tried to anticipate each other’s moves.
“Obviously in terms of that I would say, with Lewis, there was some confusion and I went right off his line when he defended himself,” Russell explained.
“It might have been a little off-putting, but you know, we have respect for each other, so it’s all good.”
Russell also clarified his opinion on Mercedes’ strategy during the safety car, as he believes the team’s best chance of a win at Zandvoort was to split their tactics and cover all options.
Although Russell considers it a difficult decision to make and believes Hamilton’s performance on Sunday was, in the end, worthy of a podium position, he said the result could have been very different if the medium tires had worked better.
“I think as a team it was an incredibly difficult decision, because if we had both pitted we would have given up the position to Max. If we had both stayed out we probably would have lost to Max as well,” Russell explained.
“The best chance we had as a team, to win, was to split the options, one to get ahead of Max, and one to be behind and see what happens.”
“If Hamilton had been able to get the medium tires going again it might have been different, but you know, it was going to be very, very difficult for him.
“I’m sure Lewis wanted to go for it; as a driver and where we are at the moment as a team, we want to win. Obviously we’re very happy with the points, just being consistent.
“But in the end nobody remembers who finishes second in the championship, so we want to win a race.”
