George Russell vs. Oscar Piastri: “Race event” / Formula 1

In the final round of the Japanese race, spectators in Suzuka saw a heated duel between George Russell in Mercedes and Oscar Piastri in McLaren, which in the end had to be reviewed by the race commissioners.

Shortly before the end of the race, Russell chased Piastri, who was ahead of him – and eventually won thanks to a mistake by the Australian.

Russell: “It was an exciting race towards the end. It’s always better to attack rather than defend and it was a good, hard race. There was contact with Oscar, which was a race incident, but I was happy that I was able to take that position at the end.”

Russell had to answer to the managers and tests of “this difficult race” and communications. But then they decided: no punishment.

Oscar Piastri himself judges the same: “It was an eventful race. And in the end he finished in front of me anyway. That was fine. I made a mistake at the end and he still passed. It’s a shame that I lost that place at the end. But I had a few problems in general today.”

Piastri (8th) crossed the finish line in ninth place between the two Mercedes of Russell (7th) and Lewis Hamilton, but made a mistake at the chicane shortly before the end.

By the way, there was a trick in the incident between Russell and Piastri: Alonso was in front of Piastri this time, but he pulled out for a while to release the Australian’s DRS so that Russell could not catch up with the two.
Russell quipped after the race: “Fernando is playing games. That’s new!”

The Brit continued: “It was smart of him and I didn’t expect anything less. It’s part of racing.”

In the end, Russell was the clear winner of the duel and crossed the finish line in seventh place ahead of Piastri.

Japan-GP, Suzuka Circuit

01. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:54:23,566 h
02. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, +12.535 seconds
03. Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, +20,866
04. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +26,522
05. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +29.700
06. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +44,272
07. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +45,951
08. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, +47.525
09. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +48,626
10. Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, +1 Round
11. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +1 lap
12. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, +1 Round
13. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +1 Lap
14. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), clean, +1 lap
15. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +1 Round
16. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +1 Round
17. Logan Sargeant (USA), Williams, +1 Round

outside
Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Sauber, Elektrik
Alex Albon (T), Williams, Crash
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Racing Bull, Crash

World Championship Standings (after 4 out of 24 Grands Prix)

the driver
01. Verstappen 77 points
02. Perez 64
03. Leclerc 59
04. Sainz 55
05. Norris 37
06. Plate 32
07. Russell 24
08. Alonso 24
09. Hamilton 10
10. Walk 7
11. Tsunoda 7
12. Oliver Bearman (GB) 6
13. Hulkenberg 3
14. Magnussen 1
15. Alboni 0
16. Zhou 0
17. Ricciardo 0
18. Okon 0
19. 0 gas
20. Bota 0
21. Sergeant 0

Builders Cup
01. Red Bull Racing 141 Punkte
02. Ferrari 120
03. McLaren 69
04. Mercedes 34
05. Aston Martin 33
06. Running Bull 7
07. Especially 4
08. Williams 0
09. Sauber 0
10. Alpine 0