Russell reveals secret to virtual safety car launch: "Had to pre-empt it"

George Russell and Sergio Perez ensured Red Bull and Mercedes kept their rivalry alive in the 2022 French Grand Prix. The two drivers engaged in a brilliant battle at the end of the race, with Rusell pinching the final podium place whilst catching Perez sleeping.

Virtual safety car

Perez and Russell had a small bit of contact at the chicane a few laps earlier. It looked as though Perez had got the better of the British driver, but a virtual safety car caused by Guanyu Zhou allowed Russell to come back into it. The Mercedes driver had a better launch and he explained his secrets whilst talking to Sky Sports.

"I had to pre-empt it. I knew I had one chance when the VSC was ending and when you get it right you can carry the momentum. Maybe he had been a little too quick and had to brake. So, he is braking and I was accelerating," Russell said.

Mercedes introduced more upgrades in France as they start to unlock the potential they feel is in the car. They were expecting to get much closer to the front but still sat around nine-tenths behind in qualifying. Russell explains the latest view in the Mercedes garage.

"We expected to match Checo and Carlos, but Max and Charles are ahead of their teammates at the moment and Hamilton and myself are three-tenths behind them and Verstappen was cruising to the end. Since Austria, we have a clear direction of where we need to go with our development. If we go in this direction we will extract more performance. After the summer break will be exciting," Russell added.