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George Russell's overtake on Lando Norris during the 2022 F1 Monaco GP was not 'mega', according to the McLaren driver.
The Mercedes man was particularly proud of his move on Norris at the Circuit de Monaco, a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
George Russell made his pit stop one lap before Lando Norris and was able to catch and overtake his compatriot on the following lap with warmer rubber. Unfortunately for him, the move was not shown on the live telecast or in a replay, probably owing to the Monaco GP's own broadcasting discretion.
Russell felt hard done by with that decision by the media and made his feelings known in a post-race interview where he said:
“He came out in front of me at the pit exit. I was behind and then he went to the left and I sort of went on the wet stuff. But it felt pretty dicey from within the car for Monaco in damp conditions, but obviously not good enough for the TV producer.”
Norris was far from impressed with the aforementioned overtake. In an interview with motorsport.com, the 22-year-old said:
“That was supposed to be mega? I mean, if that was a mega overtaking move, then he did a few crappy overtaking moves before that! I just pitted on wet tyres and he had a one lap advantage because he was already on slicks and the slick was the right tyre. He had warm tyres, mine were cold. And he passed me, it’s very simple. I wasn’t impressed at all, more frustrated.”
George Russell managed to hold his lead and finish the race in P5 with Norris in tow, one place behind him. In the process, Russell managed to remain the only driver to have finished in the top five in each of the seven races this season.
George Russell is 'reasonably pleased' with how he has performed with Mercedes in 2022
George Russell has admitted that he is 'reasonably pleased' with the manner in which he has performed thus far with Mercedes in 2022.
Russell has been the most consistent driver this season and has outshone his veteran teammate Lewis Hamilton for the majority of their tenure as teammates. This seems all the more impressive considering Mercedes' struggles to get their W13 performing at the level they expected during development.
Speaking in an interview ahead of the 2022 F1 Monaco GP, the 24-year-old said:
“If you told me prior to the season that we’d be seven races in and I wouldn’t have a victory to my name, I would have definitely been a bit disappointed with that. But I think given the pace of the car and given where we’ve been as a team, I’ve been reasonably pleased with how I’ve performed. I think the results have been maximised. I don’t see many races where we could have achieved better results.”
Russell has two out of Mercedes' three podium finishes in 2022 but the Silver Arrows have not been able to place higher than third in any race.
Heading into the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP, Russell is in P4 in the World Drivers' Championship standings with 84 points to his name.
