During the second free practice session at the Canadian Grand Prix, George Russell shared an amusing incident involving Daniel Ricciardo, who playfully stuck his finger up at the British driver from the Red Bull pit lane area.
While Russell impressively finished FP2 in second place on the timesheets, it was Ricciardo’s light-hearted antics that caught his attention off the track.
Ricciardo, present at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in his reserve driver role for Red Bull, seized the opportunity to grab Russell’s attention in his typical humorous style.
“There was a rogue Australian fan in the pit lane at some point,” Russell recounted.
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“I’m not sure who it was, but they stuck their finger up at me or something when I was waiting to go out.
“It happened around the Red Bull area, so I might have to review the footage and see if an investigation should be launched.”
Ricciardo’s playful behaviour is a testament to his entertaining nature, even though he is not currently an active participant on the grid.
His presence as a Red Bull ambassador brings an extra spark to the event, leaving fans curious if he will engage in any further mischief throughout the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
As for Russell, he offered his thoughts on Friday’s session, acknowledging its relative productivity while cautioning against reading too much into the timings.
The team focused on low-fuel qualifying preparations towards the end of the session, taking advantage of the track’s improved conditions.
“It was a reasonably productive session. However, we shouldn’t place too much significance on the lap times,” he said.
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“We conducted our low-fuel qualifying preparations when the track was faster. I must say, the circuit is quite bumpy out there,” Russell remarked.
Despite the light-hearted moment shared with Ricciardo, Russell remains focused on his performance and extracting the maximum potential from the car.
The bumpy nature of the circuit poses an additional challenge for drivers, emphasizing the importance of finding the right balance and setup to navigate the demanding track conditions.