George Russell tags Lando Norris in a subtle dig after the contentious pit exit incident against Max Verstappen in Japan

The tale of the Japanese Grand Prix was surrounded by Lando Norris' off-track venture in the pit exit incident against Max Verstappen, and now George Russell has taken a dig at the McLaren driver. The Mercedes driver tagged his compatriot on an Instagram story while promoting a garden equipment producer and cleverly told Norris that he can cut some grass, too.

With Verstappen outqualifying the faster McLaren pair, the papaya duo had to make an overtake to continue the Woking-based squad's winning streak. However, Norris couldn't get past the Dutchman due to the resurfaced track and Red Bull's finding the narrow operating window where the car works fine.

Despite this, one incident on lap 22 potentially aided Norris in overtaking the Red Bull driver on the pit exit. But the Briton drove off the track, as there was not enough room for the two cars.

Subsequently, many took a jibe at the McLaren driver's off-track driving, and George Russell became the latest addition to the list of people taking a jibe at his colleague. The 27-year-old re-posted his reel with a German gardening equipment producer and captioned the story:

"@lando I can cut the grass too."

George Russell's Instagram story on April 8 | Source: Instagram/@georgerussell63

Russell finished fifth at the Japanese Grand Prix, ending his podium streak.

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George Russell's Q3 sabotaged his Japanese Grand Prix

George Russell at the F1 Grand Prix Of Japan - Source: Getty

George Russell started the race in fifth place after a subpar qualifying lap. He then tried to get past Charles Leclerc during the race as he opted for an undercut strategy, but couldn't make it work as the traffic situation in Suzuka was torrid.

This resulted in the 27-year-old finishing a respectable but disappointing P5 after the streak of finishes he was on. Reflecting on the Briton's race, Mercedes' director of communications, Bradley Lord, said (via Racing News 365):

"George ultimately maximised everything this weekend, apart from run two of Q3 which frustratingly sort of dictated the outcome of the weekend. We knew the traffic was there, and took the risk [with the early pit-stop]. In the morning, we talked about it and George said, 'No, I'm willing to box into some traffic because the tyre condition will enable us to make some ground on them.'

That was the case and he was able to get through. It just wasn't quite enough to be able to get past, but we had to try something. At that point, it looked like George was not really able to close down Leclerc, so going long didn't look like it would yield much, therefore we decided to pull the trigger on the undercut, to give it a shot, but it didn't quite come off."

On the other hand, Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to lead a race at the Japanese Grand Prix. This showcased how the German giant has a strong driver lineup while second in the constructors' standings.