George Russell had extra opponents to contend with during Dutch Grand Prix practice – in the form of a flock of pigeons.
One of the more bizarre moments of FP3 on Saturday morning saw the birds gather next to the track at Zandvoort. And the Mercedes man was quick to jump onto team radio to point out the problem – much to the amusement of fans watching on Sky Sports.
The broadcast played the clip of Russell informing his team of the potential issue. "Those pigeons are back at the apex of Turn 7," he was heard telling his race engineer.
Naturally, the unusual message was picked up on by fans, with some logging onto social media to talk about it. Some of them pointed out that the problem was similar to one sometimes spotted at the Canadian Grand Prix, as the Montreal track is regularly visited by seagulls.
One fan commented, with tongue firmly in cheek, that the appearance of the pigeons might be more sinister than it first appeared. "Can't believe Red Bull has now trained pigeons to sit on track and sabotage others," joked @stig97.
Offering a far more realistic explanation as to why the birds were particularly attracted to that section of the track, @ThomasBunink wrote: "They sowed some grass at that corner and the pigeons are trying to eat it. Brave, stupid."
The distraction did not prevent Russell from an encouraging showing in the final practice sessions, as he went second fastest. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton also put in the fifth quickest time of the session, which bodes well for Mercedes ahead of qualifying.
Meanwhile, it was also a more encouraging session for Max Verstappen after Red Bull's struggles on Friday. He responded by going third fastest in FP3, less than two-tenths behind Charles Leclerc and much to the pleasure of the Dutch fans watching from the stands.
Qualifying is set to be an exciting and unpredictable session, with six cars in contention for pole position thanks to Mercedes' improvement – something which has been rather rare this season.
