Lando Norris says if George Russell reckons his pass on the McLaren driver in Monaco was “mega” then he’s done a few “crappy overtaking moves before that”.
Russell was a little disgruntledafter the Monaco Grand Prix when the broadcasters failed to pick up his pass on Norris for fifth place.
The compatriots battled for position early in the grand prix as the drivers began to pit for slick tyres as the circuit dried out after the earlier rain shower.
Russell stopped one lap before Norris with the McLaren driver coming out just ahead when he made his stop. Russell, on warmer tyres, was easily able to take the position.
“He came out in front of me at the pit exit,” Russell told Sky F1, “I was behind and then he went to the left and I sort of went on the wet stuff.
“But it felt pretty dicey from within the car for Monaco in damp conditions, but obviously not good enough for the TV producer.”
Asked byMotorsport.comfor his thoughts on the overtake as well as Russell’s disappointment that it didn’t make it onto the broadcast, Norris replied with a laugh: “That was supposed to be mega?
“I mean, if that was a mega overtaking move, then he did a few crappy overtaking moves before that!”
George Russell gets past Lando Norris as the McLaren driver exits the pits
The move took Russell up to P5, which ultimately saw him continue his streak of finishing in the top five#MonacoGP#F1pic.twitter.com/aqHuJH9409
— Formula 1 (@F1)May 29, 2022
Explaining how he saw that brief battle and its outcome, the Briton added: “I just pitted on wet tyres and he had a one lap advantage because he was already on slicks and the slick was the right tyre. He had warm tyres, mine were cold. And he passed me, it’s very simple.
“I wasn’t impressed at all, more frustrated.”
The 22-year-old had his own opportunity to attack Russell in the closing stages of the grand prix after a red flag for Mick Schumacher’s crash bunched up the field.
But despite sitting on the W13’s gearbox, Norris was unable to make a move andfinished the race half a second down on his compatriot.
“It was a good race, even if we lost position to the Mercedes,” he said. “That sometimes happens in these conditions, because you can just take the risk of a to pit earlier than one lap.
“There are definitely things that we need to talk about as a team. I don’t think we’ve done a perfect job on strategy, for example. But they did it for a good reason and usually they do a very good job. So I’m not complaining, we just have a bit of work to do.”
With a clear gap to Fernando Alonso behind him, Norris made a late pit stop to claim the fastest lap point.
“It’s also fair to say that George did a good job too,” he added. “But otherwise we made the most of it, with the fastest lap and the pace at the end. I think we still lack the race pace a bit, especially when we have to take care of the tyres.”
Norris is seventh in theDrivers’ Championshipwith 48 points, one behind Lewis Hamilton.