Mercedes’ George Russell has said he will still look to take the positives from the 2023 Singapore GP despite an agonising crash on the final lap as he chased a potential victory.
Russell was on the pace across the weekend, narrowly missing out on pole position to eventual race winner Carlos Sainz, and he appeared to be in with a chance of victory after Mercedes decided to pit under a late virtual safety car for new medium tyres.
With Sainz and second place Lando Norris both still on used hard tyres, the Mercedes driver quickly closed the gap to the frontrunners, but in pushing to chase down the McLaren he overcooked it and went into the walls, abruptly ending his hopes of a podium.
That incident promoted his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton into third, and Russell said that it was a horrible feeling to lose out so close to to the end of a challenging race around the Marina Bay street circuit.
“In the moment, you just want to curl up in a ball and be with nobody, it’s the most horrendous feeling in the world,” Russell told media after the race.
“When you’re so physically drained, mentally drained, and you missed out on an opportunity at victory, and to make such a mistake. You know, it is truly heartbreaking.”
Taking the positives
Despite acknowledging the disappointment after his crash, Russell said he would still look to take away the positives from what was until that point a stronger weekend for Mercedes.
“But I’ve got to be honest now. I’m standing here an hour later. It’s been such an amazing weekend. I feel like I truly can’t drive and better than I’ve ever driven,” Russell said.
“Qualifying was amazing yesterday the race was was great. I felt confident, I felt comfortable.
“And I’m not gonna let a mistake of one or two centimeters knock me down. So I’ll have a tough night or a tough morning.
“But then just put it behind me and go again, but I can only apologise to the team because they obviously deserved more.”
