George Russell is expecting a \u201ctight year\u201d ahead following his team mate Kimi Antonelli\u2019s debut victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, with the Briton left to reflect on an \u201cintense\u201d day in which he claimed second place.<\/p>\n
While the Ferrari<\/a> pair of Lewis Hamilton<\/a> and Charles Leclerc<\/a> again had the advantage over the Silver Arrows duo off the line, polesitter Antonelli<\/a> later returned to the lead while Russell<\/a> ultimately climbed back up to second.<\/p>\n Things were not necessarily straightforward for the championship leader, however, having found himself behind the Ferraris at the restart following a Safety Car, which had been deployed due to Lance Stroll<\/a>\u2019s Aston Martin<\/a> stopping out on track.<\/p>\n After biding his time while the Scuderia pair battled ahead, Russell eventually overtook and stretched out a gap to take P2 just over five seconds behind Antonelli<\/a>.<\/p>\n Having branded the 1-2 result as \u201call we could ask for\u201d, the British racer went on to sum up his Sunday as \u201can intense day\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously the race start, Ferrari got the upper hand of us; Safety Car restart, they got the upper hand on us, and unfortunately that hindered my chances of going for victory,\u201d Russell explained.<\/p>\n \u201cKimi did a great job so really well done to him, but Ferrari once again\u2026 Three races down, three races they\u2019ve made our life pretty awkward in those opening laps. At least I\u2019m glad it provided some good entertainment for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Russell also shared his congratulations for Antonelli, who claimed his first-ever win in Formula 1, saying that the youngster has \u201cbeen driving really amazing this year and this weekend especially, so I\u2019m pleased to be standing on the podium with him\u201d.<\/p>\n