George Russell said he was “surprised” by the call to continue as the weather worsened at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday.

Rain hit hard midway through an exciting race, with Russell taking the lead from Lando Norris and leading the first part of the Grand Prix before his pit stop, which was ultimately red-flagged on lap 32 following a crash. by Franco Colapinto.

George Russell ‘shocked’ by decision to continue race in wet conditions

As the race continued as the weather worsened, a pair of drivers opted to switch to fully wet tires in Sergio Pérez and Yuki Tsunoda, with the red bull and VCARB drivers take seconds out of them to stay in the intermediates.

The top three finishers, Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, remained out until the red flag was finally called, but the safety car was switched off beforehand as the worst of the rain fell on the track, with Colapinto crashing under conditions. of safety car to raise the red flag.

This stop allowed the drivers a free choice of tyres, with the Mercedes driver expressing frustration at not staying out believing a yellow or red flag would eventually appear, although he said he and the team are “in this together” when it comes to the matter. to strategic calls.

But with him unable to hold the throttle through the left-hand corner on the start/finish straight and with poor visibility as the weather worsened, Russell expressed surprise that the process was now stopped earlier.

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“To be honest, I was surprised,” Russell told Sky F1 after the race.

“I mean, we could barely keep our foot on the gas down the straight.

“The car was aquaplaning, which was exceptionally dangerous during those two laps, but I guess they like the action.”

As for Russell, he was the highest-placed of all those who stopped before the red flag, and Lando Norris admitted after the race that his compatriot was potentially the deserved winner on Sunday, although Verstappen’s rise from 17th in The grid for victory was dramatic. .

Explaining his initial concern about not being left out to benefit from the same ‘free’ choice of tires as those in front of them, Russell offered insight into the team’s processes in this area in wet racing.

“You know, we are in this together as a team and we would have already taken fourth place before the weekend,” he added.

“We will go over it. Sometimes it is difficult to predict what is about to happen, everyone does the best they can and makes the best decisions with the information available.

“Normally, when it’s drying, it’s the team that has to say ‘let’s go to the slicks’; When it is wetter, it is normally the pilot who must say ‘slicks’ to inter or inters to wet.

“It was nice, well, I had a lot of confidence that the safety car or a red flag was going to come out, because it was like driving a boat.”

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