George Russell expects Max Verstappen to intentionally back up Lando Norris into traffic today. Should pole-sitter Verstappen retain the lead from the start, Norris is likely to be hot on his heels from P2.
But Mercedes‘ Russell thinks Verstappen could back up Norris into Oscar Piastri and co. behind him to maximise his chances of winning the title.
Verstappen needs to win the race and for Norris to finish off the podium to bridge the 12-point gap between them.
Russell said: “I think backing up the pack, on a street track as an example, is a very normal thing to do.
“You don’t need to drive like a hooligan or dangerously to do that; you can just manage by three or four tenths more, and that will condense the pack.
“At some tracks, you can easily drop half a second or a second at certain points without being dangerous, without causing risk to yourself. So yeah, you’d expect him [Verstappen] to be doing that.”