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George Russell finished third in Baku after Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Red Bull Racing's Sergio Perez crashed out ahead of the penultimate lap. The Brit criticized FIA officials for the delay in following safety protocol during the mandatory post-race media interaction.
During the last ten laps of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a four-way battle for first place ensued between Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, Perez, and Sainz. However, with Leclerc beginning to lose grip on the rear end of his SF24, Perez and Sainz began closing in on the Monegasque racer. Perez attempted an overtake on Leclerc but eventually lost the position to him on turn one.
However, sensing an opportunity, the Spaniard passed Perez on the same turn and began chasing his Ferrari teammate. In an attempt to recover his lost position, Perez tried a move on the outside after turn two. However, a lack of judgment on the two drivers' part led to a high-speed collision, sending both crashing into the wall ahead of turn three.
Although double-waved yellow flags came out immediately after the crash, the FIA decided to deploy a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) over a minute after the incident. This move by the officials seems to have irked the Mercedes-AMG driver, who eventually ended on the podium after Sainz and Perez DNFed.
During the post-race press conference, George Russell expressed displeasure with the VSC delay.
"Driving full gas into a wall of carbon fiber on the penultimate lap. I mean, that was pretty crazy. The sun was coming down. You couldn't see anything. I was shocked the Safety Car or VSC didn't come out sooner. You know, the car could have been anywhere. So, as I said, glad to see everybody was OK. It was a long old race and glad to be on the podium," he said.
Russell's teammate Lewis Hamilton also ended up in the points in P9 after starting the race from the pit lane due to a penalty for a Power Unit change.
A brief look at George Russell's weekend in Baku in the 2024 Formula 1 season
After finishing seventh at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, George Russell was likely expecting a smooth run in Baku. However, the Azerbaijan race weekend was kind of a roller-coaster ride for the Mercedes-AMG driver.
Russell was unable to extract maximum performance from his W15 race car during both Free Practice (FP1 and FP2) sessions on Friday. The 26-year-old finished the first and second sessions in P8 and P9, respectively.
Despite topping the charts in the final practice round (FP3), Russell qualified P5 for the race, behind the likes of Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Perez.
Russell struggled for pace throughout the race but was able to keep his fifth place until the lap 50 incident between Sainz and Perez. With those two out of the way, the Brit finished on the last podium place, thereby ending the weekend with a brighter mood.
With seven more races to go this season, George Russell is currently standing seventh in the drivers' standings, 23 points behind his teammate and 7x world champion Lewis Hamilton.
