George Russell, Mercedes Formula 1 driver, has apologised to Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz. He admitted that the collision at the first corner of United States Grand Prix made it the “worst Sunday” of the year.
The British driver knocked pole sitter into a spin at the first corner. It damaged the Ferrari to an extent that he had to retire from the race.
FIA Steward handed Russell a five second penalty for the collision. It caused damage to his W13 front wing. He struggled with the damage but eventually finished fifth. Despite discomfort, he bagged the fastest lap after a late pit stop with fresher tyres.
“Firstly apologies to Carlos,” he commented on his clash. “I’ve already been to see him.
“When I was attacking into Turn 1. I saw he was on the outside of Max [Verstappen]. I was expecting him to try to hold it around the outside of him. As soon as I recognised, he was trying to cut back underneath Max. I had already committed to my braking zone, and contact was inevitable.
“But as a driver you need to be aware of those possibilities of the cars ahead.
“If he was holding it around the outside of Max for sure I would’ve been fine, as I was battling with Lewis, not with those cars ahead.
“As soon as you slow it down as a driver and try to cut underneath, it was difficult. As I said, I hold my hands up to that. There is not a lot more to say than that.”
Plus: Red Bull “never stopped believing”
Initially, Russell believed that damage was limited despite feeling not right in W13. He conceded that he felt “sort of nowhere with regards to the pace.”
“Initially we didn’t think there was much damage. But I’ve got to say it was probably the worst Sunday of my year today,” he said.
“I was sort of nowhere with regards to the pace. I am hoping that when we look at the car there might be a bit more damage than we first expected.
“But as soon as I recognised, I was out of striking distance of Checo [Perez] and Charles [Leclerc]. It was a matter of bringing the car home. Because we were struggling to keep it on the black stuff today.”
“It was tricky conditions out there today. The only strange thing from the race was that my middle stint was relatively competitive when I was tucked up behind Checo and Charles.
“I was right on the back of them within DRS range for a number of laps, so that was the odd one out. The first stint and last stint I was nowhere.”
