The Mercedes driver takes responsibility for his mistake and believes last-minute repairs may have affected his car’s performance.
George Russell believes his crash while leading the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint may have compromised his performance in qualifying, after struggling with an unfamiliar car balance and managing only sixth place on Saturday afternoon.
The Mercedes driver admitted responsibility for the accident, which occurred after he had taken the lead from polesitter Max Verstappen at the start of the rain-affected Sprint at Marina Bay.
Russell had demonstrated strong pace throughout Friday’s running, qualifying second for the Sprint, but was unable to reproduce that competitiveness following the extensive repairs required after his crash.
Russell takes responsibility for Sprint accident
Starting from the front row, Russell made a better getaway than Verstappen and moved into the lead of the Sprint.
However, the Briton lost control after running slightly wide on the exit of the final corner. His Mercedes spun before striking the inside barrier, bringing his race to an early end.
Russell acknowledged that the incident was entirely his responsibility and admitted it had triggered a difficult sequence of events.
« It was obviously a very bad day overall, and it all stems from my own mistake, » Russell said.
The 28-year-old explained that the car felt noticeably different when he returned to the circuit for Grand Prix qualifying.
« The car wasn’t behaving quite the same way. I was struggling with the rear, and the tyres were overheating. »
« Everything went in the wrong direction, whereas yesterday everything was working perfectly. We need to understand why. »
Russell suggested that the limited time available for repairs may have contributed to the change in handling.
« Sometimes it’s not surprising when the whole team has to rebuild the car so quickly after a crash like that. »
« Yesterday we were competitive on every lap, whereas today that wasn’t the case. »
Wolff acknowledges possible impact of rushed repairs
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff shared Russell’s concerns, although he stressed that the team still needed to examine the car to establish what had changed.
Speaking to Sky Germany, Wolff revealed that the mechanics had only completed the repairs shortly before qualifying began.
« In George’s case, the car was only finished at the very last minute, » Wolff explained.
« The floor is probably not quite as it should be. Overall, it was therefore a good performance. »
Despite the difficulties, Russell managed to qualify sixth, although the result represented a significant drop from the pace he had demonstrated earlier in the weekend.
Mercedes will now need to determine whether the handling problems were directly related to the repairs or other factors affecting the car’s performance.
Power unit penalty compounds Russell’s difficulties
Russell’s challenging weekend will continue into Sunday’s Grand Prix, where he faces a start from the back of the grid following a power unit penalty.
The penalty stems from an engine failure at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, leaving the Mercedes driver with a particularly difficult recovery task on the Marina Bay street circuit.
Overtaking is notoriously challenging in Singapore, and Russell acknowledged that making progress through the field could prove unpredictable.
The Briton pointed to teammate Kimi Antonelli’s contrasting experiences earlier in the season.
Antonelli recovered from 19th on the grid to win the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, but found overtaking considerably more difficult in Azerbaijan, where he started 16th and took much longer to reach the points-paying positions.
Russell believes those examples demonstrate how dramatically recovery drives can differ depending on the circuit and race circumstances.
Russell uncertain about Singapore recovery prospects
Asked by Motorsport.com what he considered a realistic target for Sunday’s race, Russell admitted that he could not make a reliable prediction.
« It’s going to be very difficult, » he said.
« Kimi had one race where he started 19th and won, and another where he started 16th and was only up to tenth with about ten laps to go, or something like that. »
« Same driver, same car, but very different outcomes. »
« So, to answer your question, I genuinely have no idea. »
With Mercedes struggling to match the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari throughout the weekend, Russell’s immediate objective will be to recover into the points.
However, his chances will depend on the performance of his repaired car, the difficulty of overtaking and how Sunday’s race unfolds.
For Russell, the priority is now to put Saturday’s mistake behind him and salvage the strongest possible result from a weekend that began with considerable promise.
