'We were always going to invert' - George Russell's response to assertive Mercedes team orders

George Russell has cooled any potential tension at Mercedes after team orders were implemented between himself and Kimi Antonelli at the Dutch Grand Prix. 

Russell was ahead of championship rival Antonelli at Zandvoort as Sunday's grand prix neared a conclusion. But with the Italian on fresher rubber and with an outside hope of catching Lando Norris for the victory, Mercedes instructed Russell to pull over and allow his team-mate past.

This decision immediately put pressure on Russell with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc now in close pursuit, and with fresher tyres. However, after successfully fending off the threat, aided by a late virtual safety car period, Russell held no grudge against his team. 

"We’ve always said as a team, when we’re on different strategies, we’re never going to fight and we’re always going to invert, and that’s always just been our sort of rules," he said. 

"And the fact is Kimi was ahead of me before the VSC, and he tried something different to protect us as a team. He kind of copy-pasted what the Ferraris did. 

"Could I have kept him behind? Maybe. But equally, you know, it could have been a P5 as well. So, in the end, you know, he deserved to be P2. I think P3 was a fair result for me and, yes, a long season."

The Dutch Grand Prix continued a trend of the top three teams converging on pace, with Norris scoring his second win in succession for McLaren but little to separate Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari across the weekend. 

Although dropping points to Antonelli in the race, Russell had been able to close the gap by three points in Saturday's sprint race, meaning that the pre-event status quo was maintained upon departure. 

"It’s been a very positive weekend as a whole, and I think, you know, I’ve not been on the podium in three races or so now," he added. 

"And given the fact that we’re nowhere near as dominant as we once were, I think this has been a very solid weekend all in all. 

"I was not on the podium at times when we had the best car and Kimi was performing right at the very front. Now, the pace between the two of us looks very similar and that’s a good step forward for me. 

"It’s been a cleaner weekend. I’m not dealing with as many issues as I’ve faced at the end of that first half of the season, and it’s just allowing me to focus on the job. But, as I said, I think these coming two or three race weekends will be a challenge for us both, purely because we’re out of sync with the upgrades."