“He was pushing hard in order to win the race. At that stage, the only way of overtaking Norris and maybe Sainz was to just not leave a millimetre on track,” said Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, about the incident that ruined his youngest driver’s race on Sunday night.
During the last lap at the Marina Bay circuit, George Russell found himself chasing after McLaren driver Lando Norris, with the aim of getting on the second step of the podium.
His dream and the possibility of getting his side of the garage a podium ended abruptly when when he clipped the wall on the entry for Turn 10, thus ending his race, one step away from the finish line.
“I’m sad for George because he delivered a 99.9% fantastic weekend and a split-second lack of concentration, clipped the wall and it happened.
“What I said to him is I’d rather have this happening now, and the learning is there, than when we race for a victory or for a championship.
“That’s going to be engraved in him, this mistake. We must not forget it’s his second year in a competitive car and he was really giving it all he had.
“Lando kissed the wall and he was behind him when he hit harder, so that cost him the race but if you push like this, things can happen.
Russell was on the edge of tears in his post-race interviews, but Wolff believes this error can help him avoid such mistakes when going for a championship in the future.
“I think George is of course an out and out racer and is devastated. But what I said to him was, we played for third place and not a win.
“It is a steep learning curve and with such situations, a second year at Mercedes, it is not going to happen again when it is for a victory or a championship.
“But obviously he is very upset.”
Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
