Russell ‘infuriated’ by McLaren drivers’ tactics in Sprint
George Russell didn’t hold back his frustration after a nail-biting Qatar Sprint that saw McLaren’s teamwork relegate the Mercedes driver to third.
The Briton, who started from second on the grid alongside poleman Lando Norris, found himself unable to capitalize on his strong starting position.
The showdown began right from the start, with Piastri wasting no time to sweep around the outside of the Mercedes driver at Turn 2 to snatch second place while Norris worked up an advantage.
What followed was a strategic masterclass from McLaren, spearheaded by Norris. After pulling away, the latter soon eased off to ensure Piastri stayed within DRS range, creating a dual-McLaren barrier that Russell couldn’t penetrate.
Russell was relentless in his pursuit. With DRS assistance of his own, he made daring moves on successive laps, lunging at Piastri into Turn 1 on both the third and fourth laps.
But Norris and Piastri had other ideas, deploying late defensive maneuvers that left Russell inches from contact — and irate.
"It was very close into Turn 1 on a couple of occasions," said Russell. "It was so frustrating every lap, Lando backing up, giving Oscar the DRS.
"Obviously I understand why they did that. But when you're out here, you're fighting. You want to give it everything, and you want to put a race on for the fans. It was just pretty infuriating."
The final lap offered one last chance for Russell to break through, but Norris’ calculated slowdown allowed Piastri to take the lead and secure the win.
Piastri acknowledged the pivotal role of teamwork in holding Russell at bay.
"It would have been tough [to keep Russell behind without DRS from Norris]," he said. "Teamwork definitely helped today because George was very fast."
Russell couldn’t hide his disappointment at being unable to challenge Norris directly, feeling that the McLaren driver had more pace in reserve.
"To be honest, I struggled towards the end, but I think Lando had some good pace,” he said.
“Oscar was struggling a little bit, so it would have been good to be able to go head-to-head with Lando and see what the true pace would have been – as I think he had quite a lot in the pocket, just giving Oscar the DRS.”
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