Russell disappointed F1 TV missed "pretty dicey" pass on Norris

Norris came out of the pits on slicks in front of Russell and moved onto the racing line, obliging the Mercedes driver to jink to the right and pass him on the way up the hill to Casino Square.

The move decided fifth place in favour of Russell, who had qualified just behind his McLaren rival.

However, at the time, TV viewers knew nothing of the pass, as Russell had been in front anyway prior to the stop sequence due to Norris's earlier switch to intermediates.

It has subsequently been seen on social media in an onboard clip from Russell's car.

"It was a positive race, I think," said Russell when asked about his afternoon by Autosport. "On the hard tyre we were the quickest car on track at some points and I was really pushing the limits, and that was very enjoyable.

"They didn't show my overtake on Lando, which was a bit disappointing.

"He sort of came out of pits directly in front of me and sort of chopped across and I managed to overtake on the wet stuff.

"So that was pretty nice. And yeah, I sort of managed it until the end, it was not easy on that medium tyre."

Elaborating on the pass to Sky F1, he said: "It felt pretty dicey from within the car for Monaco in damp conditions, but obviously not good enough for the TV producer. So, next time!"

George Russell, Mercedes W13, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Told by Autosport about Russell's satisfaction with the move, Norris insisted it was a simple function of a difference in tyre temperatures.

"If that was a mega overtake then he's done some shite overtakes!" said the McLaren driver. "I mean, I just came on the box on wet tyres.

"And he obviously gained a lap prior because of being on the slick, the slick was the tyre to be on.

"He had warm tyres, mine were cold. And he came past me, it's quite simple. I wasn't impressed at all. I was more frustrated."

GPDA director Russell backed the decision to delay the start of the race due to the incoming rain, although he felt it could have got underway with intermediate tyres at the initial start time.

"It was frustrating from within the car," he said. "But when you saw the weather that came, I thought it was the right decision and the wise decision.

"It was too dangerous and too wet and it would have just been chaotic. 

"It's a difficult position for a race director always and it's easy in hindsight. From my side, I just wanted to get cracking, and it was definitely intermediates to start with. And I think we could have gone directly.

"And then at least probably got 20 laps under our belt, and then maybe red-flagged it when the rain came in, rather than delaying and delaying. But that's easy to say in hindsight."