George Russell has admitted he made a mistake trying to overtake Oscar Piastri, costing him the chance to win the Canadian Grand Prix.
“To be honest, I felt like we had missed an opportunity,” said Russell, who led the early stages of the race from pole position but finished third.
Russell was overtaken by Lando Norris and Max Verstappen towards the end of his first season.
“We were very fast at the beginning of the race with the intermediates,” Russell said. “And then, obviously, Lando got ahead very quickly. “So we went back on the slicks, made a couple of mistakes and just pushed the limits.”
A second Safety Car period and an additional pit stop for another set of slick tires left him fourth behind Verstappen and the McLaren drivers. Russell attacked Piastri heading into the final chicane, but the two made contact, sending the Mercedes driver out of the chicane.
That cost Russell another place in front of Lewis Hamilton and, although he was able to again pass his team-mate and Piastri for the final spot on the podium, he believes more was possible.
“We had the rhythm,” he said. “Max was very strong at that point in the race. But then when we put the mediums on at the end, we were very, very fast.
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“I think that mistake with Oscar, when I tried to overtake him and lost position to Lewis, cost us at least second position and maybe we could have fought with Max at the end of the race.
“But we will take all the positives from this weekend. First podium, first pole position of the year and an exciting future.”
Stewards are investigating Russell’s collision with Piastri. The Mercedes driver said he was “quite tight with Oscar and obviously with Lewis as well at the end.
“I think it was a tough and fair race. It is very difficult when there is only one dry line, so you have to be committed and trust your rivals.”
Although Russell maintained that he “paid the price” for his clash with Piastri, he was pleased with his performance. “Our first podium of the year, we really had a very fast car this weekend and we are back in contention.
“Fighting for the win was a lot of fun and that’s what Formula 1 is about and that’s why we’re going to compete.”
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Canadian Grand Prix 2024
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