Mercedes Formula 1 driver George Russell conceded it was his own mistake that led to him crashing out of the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race – an accident which may have hindered his performance in qualifying.
Front-row starter Russell surged into the lead on a wet Marina Bay track with a much better getaway than polesitter Max Verstappen, but lost control as he ran ever so slightly wide on the exit of the last corner. The Briton spun into the inside wall and retired from the race.
As shown by his second place on the grid, Russell had been quick in sprint qualifying, but he couldn’t do better than sixth in the main qualifying session, which he believes is down to his mechanics having to hastily rebuild his Silver Arrow.
“Obviously a very bad day all in all, and stemming from my own mistake,” Russell commented.
“The car didn’t feel quite the same. I was struggling with the rear end and then I was overheating the tyres and it was just a bit of a downward spiral, whereas yesterday it all just clicked and it was all working well, so we need to see why that was.
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“[This] is not, sometimes, a surprise when the whole team is putting it back together so quickly and it’s obviously been in the wall. Yesterday we were competitive every lap we did, and today it was not the case.”
That’s a theory that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff can get behind, even though the squad still needs to look into it.
“With George, the car was only finished at the very last minute,” Wolff told Sky Germany. “The floor is probably not quite as it should be. So all in all, it was a good performance.”
Asked what he could aim for in the race, Russell was indecisive, with a power unit penalty – ensuing from his Sepang engine failure – relegating him to the back of the grid.
The 28-year-old is aware that while Kimi Antonelli stormed to victory from 19th in the Italian Grand Prix, in Azerbaijan it took him 17 laps to climb from 16th on the grid back into the top 10; admittedly the youngster was ‘driving like his grandmother’ in the streets of Baku.
So what does Russell think is realistic for the main race in Singapore, Motorsport.com asked? With Mercedes more than challenged by Red Bull and Ferrari so far this weekend, the Englishman is merely hoping for points. “It’s going to be very challenging,” he added.
“Kimi obviously had one race starting in 19th and won, and another race in 16th and was only up to P10 with 10 laps remaining or whatever. Same driver, same car, but very different outcomes. So to answer your question, I really don’t know.”
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