Leclerc labels Russell ‘quite cheeky’ after Suzuka radio mind games

Charles Leclerc has called George Russell “quite cheeky” after the Mercedes driver and his race engineer tried to mislead Leclerc at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Ferrari teammates and Russell were back at it at Suzuka as they fought over the final podium position late in the grand prix.

Charles Leclerc reacts to George Russell Suzuka radio tactics

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Leclerc and Russell broke free of Lewis Hamilton with 10 laps remaining, with the battle intensifying as they raced towards the chequered flag.

Russell hounded Leclerc for several laps, running close to the Ferrari driver’s rear wing, before making a move on Lap 51 at the final corner. Leclerc fought back immediately at Turn 1 to retake third place.

Although Russell continued to press, Leclerc covered him off and grabbed his second podium finish of the championship by 0.484s ahead of the Mercedes driver.

Leclerc admitted in the post-race press conference that it could’ve gone the other way as he and his race engineer Bryan Bozzi almost fell for Russell’s trickery with his race engineer Marcus Dudley.

The Monegasque driver revealed Bozzi was keeping him informed about what Dudley was telling Russell to do, only to realise the Briton was then doing the exact opposite.

Realising what was going on after a handful of laps, Leclerc was able to adjust and keep Russell behind him.

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“It was quite tight at some point,” Leclerc started.

“And they were also being quite cheeky, because I think his engineer was telling him things on the radio.

“My engineer was telling me what his engineer was telling on the radio, but he was doing then the opposite.

“And that put me under quite a bit of pressure.

“At one point, I think they told me he’s being told to use everything in the back straight, or vice versa, or maybe in the main straight, and then for four laps in a row, he was doing exactly the opposite of that.

“So I understood it pretty quickly, and I could defend, but at one point I got surprised in the last corner. But it was quite a fun race.

“Unfortunately, a little bit unlucky for us because of the Safety Car at the wrong moment. I don’t think it will have changed significantly our race, but it made it a little bit more difficult for our second stint.”

The Ferrari driver is third in the Drivers’ standings on 49 points, 23 behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

Ferrari, though, potentially face more competition than just Mercedes after McLaren scored its first podium in Japan with Oscar Piastri’s P2.

Asked about the threat with McLaren also running the Mercedes power unit, Leclerc replied: “The Mercedes power unit is very, very strong, and at the moment we’ve got some work to do to catch up.

“However, in this first phase of the season is very important for us to maximise the points, just like we are doing.

“Then the upgrades will come in Miami, I think for the whole paddock, it will be probably more than half the car completely new for everybody.

“And this will see the first truth for the remainder of the season. So it’s very important that we do a good job for Miami.”

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