Charles Leclerc criticises ‘vocal’ George Russell with ‘normally the case’ radio complaints

Charles Leclerc was critical of George Russell, saying the Mercedes driver is normally one to complain over the radio about other drivers.

The two battled late on in the race with Russell blaming Leclerc for moving under braking, arguing that the Ferrari driver should receive a penalty.

Charles Leclerc criticises George Russell radio complaints

Russell was heard arguing that Leclerc deserved a penalty, even prompting race engineer Marcus Dudley to tell the driver to “keep cool” and even if Leclerc did ultimately get penalised, he was critical of Russell’s approach.

“I knew I was on the limit,” Leclerc said. “I don’t have much [of an] opinion about it. I felt like I moved before braking and then I braked, obviously angling my car towards the apex, which is normally what I do.

“But I can imagine George being quite vocal on the radio, it’s normally the case.”

Leclerc was ultimately handed a five-second time penalty which was applied post race, though it had no impact on the finishing order.

“Car 16 moved towards Car 63 on the main straight before braking and subsequently moved a second time, now under braking, nearly causing a collision with Car 63,” the Stewards noted. “The Stewards consider both moves combined to constitute erratic driving.

“The Stewards took into account that Car 63 succeeded in overtaking Car 16 and that there was no contact and in these circumstances apply a less severe penalty than might have been applied in different circumstances.”

Asked if he was frustrated about Russell’s complaints, Leclerc said he would have been had a Safety Car been called.

“I don’t know, especially on a race like this,” he said. “If there was a Safety Car in the race and I would have taken a five-second penalty, I probably would have been a lot more frustrated.”

Russell meanwhile said Leclerc deserved his penalty and had to “send it” in order to get by,

“Going down the straight at 330 and you sort of dive into the corner,” he said. “You’re right on the limit of your car’s grip.

“You can’t just brake and turn to avoid somebody, because you’re already at the limit of that grip.

“So I made my intentions really clear, dive into the inside and he moved after he had committed to braking, which is not allowed in the rules

“He did it once, I was unhappy about it. Second time, I was like ‘well, I’m going to just send it down the inside now’ and he did it again, and we made contact.

More reaction from the race in Budapest

Charles Leclerc backtracks on Ferrari radio rant as true cause of problems revealed

F1 LIVE: All the action as it happened from the Hungarian Grand Prix

“I was glad to get by but I think when you watch on TV, you think ‘oh, why can’t you just turn to avoid it?’ But as I said, you are right on the limit of the car’s potential.”

It is not the first time that Russell’s words have irked other drivers. Last season he and Max Verstappen clashed over what the Dutchman perceived as poor form in the stewards’ room.

Verstappen said “I’ve been in that [stewards’] meeting room many times in my life, in my career, with people that I’ve raced and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. And that for me… I lost all respect.”

Having found his way through, Russell went on to finish third while Leclerc slipped to a comparatively distant fourth having led the Hungarian GP in its opening stages.

Read next: F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates