George Russell went from a “bit more room” passing Lewis Hamilton to too much

Determined to give his team-mate room as he passed him, George Russell overcooked it and put all four wheels off the track at the Miami Grand Prix.

It did not take him long though to regain P5 and keep his run of top-five finishes going.

A late Safety Car in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix saw Russell lining up P7 behind his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

But while the younger Briton had the freedom to stop for fresh medium tyres, with a big gap between himself and eighth place, Hamilton would have lost a position had he stopped.

Staying out on old hard tyres meant he was a sitting duck for Russell’s attack, only for the latter to get it a bit wrong and pass his team-mate with all four wheels off the track.

Russell gave the position back to Hamilton, only to pass him again almost immediately.

Wheel to wheel on track. But we’re in this fight to improve together. 💪 pic.twitter.com/NKnjI3py14

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 9, 2022

“When you’re battling with your team-mate, you’ve got to show respect, a bit more room than normal,” said Russell, quoted by F1i.com.

“The move was a bit tricky. I went a bit wide, but it’s so dirty off line around this circuit.

“Obviously it was clear I went off the track and had to do it all over again. I enjoyed it and I think there’s good respect between us.

“But Lewis was unlucky. When you are on 20-lap-old hard tyres there’s not a lot you can do really.”

Sunday’s result means Russell has now finished fifth or higher in all five of this season’s grands prix.

The Briton is P4 in the Drivers’ standings with 59 points, 23 ahead of Hamilton.

“It’s mixed feelings to be honest because obviously based on where we were yesterday, today was a good result. But if you’d told me after Friday we’d finish P5 and P6 and that far behind P1, I’d have been pretty disappointed,” he said.

“We have a fast race car in there, we just don’t have the key to unlock this…