George Russell

George Russell believes he was completely in the right after he and Sergio Perez nearly collided during the French Grand Prix.

He told Sky Sports: ‘It was a difficult afternoon. ‘I am absolutely sweating; I am a bit knackered now to be honest. However, when it came to the VSC restart, he revealed that he was misinformed when the race would be underway again and that is what allowed Russell to overtake him so easily.

George Russell has insisted the 'rules are clear' after clashing with Sergio Perez in the closing stages of the French Grand Prix.

"It was a long race, a tough race, the pace was strong but we really struggled with the warm-up on that restart and Checo was all over me. “That’s what I had. [He] didn’t really leave me much space, but nevertheless, I am glad I carried on to bring it home P3."

Toto Wolff took the unusual step of dishing out some harsh words to George Russell over the team radio in the F1 French Grand Prix but has explained.

You don’t know what the engineers look at. It’s the rule when you're attacking - I was definitely front wheel to rear wheel.” Russell implored his team to demand a penalty: “Come on, guys.

George Russell has been describing just how he managed to get the better of Sergio Perez following the Virtual Safety Car.

“I feel like when I made the overtake, the rules are pretty clear. I don’t know what was going on with the Virtual Safety Car. I just got caught out with it, because it was telling me it was ending already from the exit of [Turn] 8. Still, Perez defended up until a Virtual Safety Car was deployed as a result of Zhou Guanyu’s car failure at the side of Turn 5.

George Russell got into the podium places late on at the French Grand Prix by passing Sergio Perez.

that’s what I had [but he] didn’t really leave me enough space. Sainz was forced to pit for the Mediums after the Safety Car came out too early for his strategy, forcing him to make a mandatory stop as well as an additional one to get to the end. The Briton was passed by the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz after the Safety Car restart following Charles Leclerc’s crash while he was leading proceedings, as the Spaniard was recovering from the back of the grid due to his engine penalty.