George Russell said he cast the “noise” around his and Max Verstappen’s clash in Spain to one side, enabling him to take a superb win in Formula 1‘s Canadian Grand Prix.
The Briton was able to convert his stunning pole position into victory, with Verstappen coming home in second place.
Both men were involved in a late bit of contention, with Verstappen accusing Russell of brake testing him during a late Safety Car period, which led to Red Bull lodging a formal protest.
But for Russell, he focused on the present and ensured his attention was entirely on the task at hand, which enabled him to avenge a win he felt was lost at the same circuit last year.
“To be honest, for the last couple of weeks, obviously, there’s lots of noise going on, after what happened in Spain as well,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“But from my side, you put it to one side, and you know that if you make a good start, you get into a groove.
“I knew I had potentially the fastest car today, you’ve got to dial into that and put all of the additional noise to one side.
“And, of course, it was a bit challenging at points when you had Charles and Lando on the offset strategy, and they were kind of getting in our way.
“But as soon as I had clear air, I could comfortably pull the gap out. It wasn’t dead easy, but I felt confident in myself and the car.
“I was keeping a close eye on how Kimi was getting on, and on the TVs, and seeing Lando [Norris] and Oscar [Piastri] closing down.
“But, no, it was a good day, and I feel proud of myself, feel proud of the team, especially after this time 12 months ago when it was a victory lost.”
Russell ‘really pleased’ by Mercedes double podium
Mercedes had scored a number of decent results in qualifying and/or races this year, predominantly led by Russell, but the win was still proving elusive.
The W16’s performance in Canada was a chance for Russell to right that wrong, and he did along with team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who took his first-ever F1 podium.
“Yeah, it’s been great to get the win and, you know, seeing Kimi up here as well on the podium,” he said.
“Really, really pleased for him. And, you know, as a team, we’ve been performing so well this year.
“Up until the last triple header, we’d maximised every single race weekend, whether, you know, that was the P2 in Bahrain or the other podiums we had.
“But coming into Canada, we knew we did have the potential to fight for pole and for the race win, and, ultimately, it came down to that quali lap yesterday.
“There was obviously not much movement in terms of positions shuffling around but really pleased with the job.”
READ MORE – George Russell wins F1 Canadian GP as McLaren drivers clash
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