Russell: Move on Kubica was "highlight of my race"
F1 News
- Bevan Youl
An unseen move from George Russell on Williams teammate Robert Kubica was the highlight of his race after passing around the outside at the fast Signes corner.
Despite the footage not being shown to viewers, it was one of the moves of the race as the Brit finally passed the Pole after being behind for the majority of the race.
Russell had attempted to pass Kubica earlier on in the race at the same corner but ran wide and clashed with a polystyrene board, later on attempting another overtake at the Mistral straight’s chicane.
But Russell eventually managed to pass at the Signes corner around the outside of his teammate, maintaining his position in the exit of the corner after coming close to one another.
He described the move as (quoted by Motorsport): "quite a hairy move but the highlight of my race.
"It was good fun, I told the team at the start I felt that I was quicker than him but didn't expect anything to change, I wanted to do it fairly and properly on track.
"The first attempt I went wide and damaged the front wing, second attempt I made it stick."
However, Russell later had to come in to replace his front wing after the move due to a small amount of damage sustained when hitting one of the boards earlier in the race.
"From my side, I felt no difference, but the team were seeing some issues," Russell added.
"I think maybe there was a small crack or something when I hit the polystyrene board."
Kubica added that he wasn’t going to risk anything in the battle with his teammate.
"We arrived side-by-side into Turn 10, and I picked up understeer and the second time I left the space for George on the outside," he said.
"You know you don't want to take too much risk fighting with your teammate for 18th and 19th, or 19th and 20th."