formula 1
Russell heartbroken after last-minute exit from Singapore GP
George Russell came too close to the wall and could no longer keep his Mercedes on the track. photo
© Vincent Thian/AP/dpa
Winner of hearts? For some, that’s George Russell in Singapore. The Mercedes driver is heartbroken that he messed up his previously strong race on the last lap.
“It breaks my heart to be left without points,” said the 25-year-old Brit in Singapore. He was half a car length away from victory, but a few centimeters too close to the wall destroyed all hopes in the last lap of the Formula 1 night race. Russell was eliminated.
“It was a very small mistake after a strong weekend, but that’s racing – he did 99.99 percent of everything right today,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff: “He’s completely finished.”
Russell was in third place behind eventual winner Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and Lando Norris in second in the McLaren. After an aggressive but almost famous tire strategy, he wanted to grab both of them with another change. But he came too close to the wall and could no longer keep his Mercedes on the track.
It was about victory, not second place, emphasized Wolff. While teammate and record world champion Lewis Hamilton benefited from Russell’s retirement and came third, Russell fought back tears. The British newspaper Daily Mail wrote that his race had taken a “cruel turn.” “Russell lost his nerve in the last lap,” said the sports paper “As” from Spain, the home of winner Sainz. Russell wants to do better right up to the finish on Sunday in Suzuka, Japan.