Charles Leclerc moved under braking during a tense battle for the podium at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix, and George Russell's immediate radio complaint was that the Ferrari driver deserved a penalty. When the stewards weighed in later, the situation tipped fully in Mercedes' favor.Leclerc's risky defending violated Appendix IV Article 2E of the International Sporting Code, earning him a five-second penalty and one penalty point. It proved decisive in a race where Russell had fought back from a mid-race drop in position to reclaim third in the closing laps.The race began with Charles Leclerc making a textbook launch from pole, holding off Oscar Piastri into Turn 1. Behind them, George Russell capitalized on Lando Norris to squeeze into third. But while Norris would eventually emerge as the strategic winner of the race with a one-stop gamble, Russell committed to a more conventional Medium/Hard/Hard two-stopper.By Lap 10, Norris had overtaken Russell, dropping the Mercedes driver to fourth. Leclerc pitted for hards around Lap 40 and rejoined behind Norris and Russell, setting up a dogfight for the final podium place.The duel intensified with about 15 laps to go. Russell had whittled the gap to just over three seconds and finally got within DRS range on Lap 60. He lunged into Turn 1 but was rebuffed aggressively by Leclerc, who shifted under braking - a move that Russell immediately flagged over team radio."That was moving under braking," Russell exclaimed.On Lap 62, he tried again, this time making the move stick with some contact. Russell was through to third, while Leclerc hung on in fourth. But the stewards were already reviewing the defensive move, and just before the cooldown lap, Russell's race engineer radioed in the penalty verdict for Leclerc."Nice," Russell responded.Reflecting on the race, George Russell said (via Formula 1's official website):"It's one of those when you sort of commit to a bit of a divebomb, if the driver in front moves, you're already right on the limit of grip and there's not much room for manoeuvre. I think we made contact on the second time, but just glad to get through it."For Charles Leclerc, the mood was far less buoyant. The Monegasque had controlled the opening phases of the Grand Prix but fell back into the clutches of Russell and Norris as Ferrari’s tire degradation woes resurfaced in the second half."This result gives us encouragement": George Russell reflects on hard-fought podium in HungaryGeorge Russell of Mercedes-AMG Petronas celebrates after the Hungarian GP. Source: GettyGeorge Russell's sixth podium of the 2025 season was as much a reward for perseverance as it was for strategy. His chase and eventual pass on Charles Leclerc defined the second half of the race. While he didn't hide his annoyance over the initial block, he kept his composure and brought the car home in third.While Mercedes did not expect to be podium contenders coming into the weekend, Russell's performance was a sign of progress."This result gives us encouragement heading into the summer break and we can look forward to the final 10 races of the year now with more confidence. We can't get carried away as we didn't expect to be in the top three this weekend. We know the competitive order behind McLaren is tight and we'll need to be at our best to fight for podiums consistently in the second half of the season," George Russell told Formula 1's official website.Meanwhile, his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, salvaged a point after a difficult qualifying session saw him start P15. The Italian rookie executed a long second stint on hard tires, defending against Isack Hadjar and Lewis Hamilton to finish P10.The team now enters F1's summer shutdown with reasons to believe in a more competitive second half as Zandvoort awaits.