George Russell 3rd after unnecessary team order: “Kimi would have overtaken me anyway”

30th podium finish for Mercedes driver George Russell at the spectacular, traditional Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort – third place behind Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli. The 28-year-old Brit’s expression after the thrilling Formula 1 World Championship race says it all – a poker face and kind words about his employer. But he cannot be happy about the decisive moments.

“It wasn’t an easy race for me,” said the seven-time Grand Prix winner, “I lost a position at the start; Piastri caught me off guard there. Later on in the race, I struggled to get any more speed out of my old tyres.”

Russell is team-oriented enough not to bring up the situation at Mercedes of his own accord. That’s because Mercedes had used a late virtual safety car period to bring Antonelli in for a pit stop, but Russell was left out on the track.

Antonelli promptly closed the gap on Russell, and Mercedes asked for them to swap positions. Russell on the radio: “Can he win?”

Russell let Kimi past, though he wasn’t happy about it. “I think we’ve lost a one-two here.”

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The Mercedes team orders caused a lot of discussion after the race, as Antonelli had no chance of catching the leader Norris – for two reasons: a) Lando was too fast and b) Kimi was too far ahead.

Be that as it may: Hamilton was now closing in on Russell too, launching an attack at Turn 1, but Russell still held the lead. Leclerc was also closing in from behind. But then there was another virtual safety car phase due to debris on the track (following a collision between the two Williams cars). Hamilton’s attack therefore came to nothing – which was exactly what Russell needed.

George continued: “I’m glad I still managed to make it onto the podium, because that could easily have gone pear-shaped. To be honest – Kimi deserved P2 because he was ahead of me anyway. But when you’re in a race, it’s never nice to have to give up a position.”

“But Kimi had so much speed on the fresh tyres that I wouldn’t have been able to hold him off anyway. But at the end of the day, I’m focusing on the positives – I won the sprint and am back on the GP winners’ podium for the first time since Silverstone. That’s all that counts.”