On the very first lap, George Russell and Sergio Pérez fought a firm duel. On the hairpin bends of the race, won by Charles Leclerc, the two touched - the Mexican ended up in the gravel, went to the pits and was able to return to the race. Even so, the RB18 was badly damaged, and Pérez had to retire in the 25th turn.

In the Mercedes driver's view, there was nothing he could do to avoid the collision. Precisely because of this, Russell complained about Pérez. "From the way the race has gone ... it's a missed opportunity," he began to say.

"For my part, very frustrating to have the incident on the first lap. I braked late and hard, 'Checo' had the clean line of the track... as soon as we started to make the turn, I knew we were going to crash. I was already on the limit and he had more grip, on the clean track line," Russell added.

George Russell (Foto: Mercedes) — George Russell (Photo: Mercedes)

Punished five seconds by the FIA (International Automobile Federation) for being judged responsible for the touch - and forced to climb the field after Mercedes called him to the pits - Russell had to deal with damage to his W13. Still, he managed to cross the finish line of the Austrian GP in fourth place.

"The punishment is one thing, but having the damage to my car on top of that...it probably cost me 10 seconds in the first stint. After the pit-stop, coming back 17th having to overtake pretty much the whole peloton as well. Looking in retrospect, it's okay, but I feel like I expected more," he said.

"We had damage to the left side of my front wing. It looked a lot better after the swap, but I had a lot more downforce as well - which probably cost me a second a lap. I didn't feel as fast as I was expecting. The gap to Red Bull and Ferrari is definitely closing, but recently at every race we have brought updates. This has always been a circuit that naturally suited our car," finished the driver.

The 2022 Formula 1 season continues in two weeks from July 22-24 at Paul Ricard in the French GP.