Russell admits Singapore sprint crash was his own mistake as grid penalty compounds miserable day

George Russell crashed out of the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race while leading on a wet Marina Bay circuit on Saturday, admitting the mistake was entirely his own — and the consequences stretched well beyond the sprint result.

The Mercedes driver had made a better start than polesitter Max Verstappen from the front row, only to lose control as he ran marginally wide on the exit of the final corner. His car spun into the inside wall, ending his race immediately.

The damage forced Russell’s mechanics to rebuild the car at pace before the main qualifying session, and the Briton believes the rushed repair directly affected his performance. He qualified sixth — a significant step back from the form he had shown in sprint qualifying, where he had been fast enough to start from the front row.

“Obviously a very bad day all in all, and stemming from my own mistake,” Russell said. “The car didn’t feel quite the same. I was struggling with the rear end and then I was overheating the tyres and it was just a bit of a downward spiral, whereas yesterday it all just clicked and it was all working well, so we need to see why that was.”

He added: “This is not, sometimes, a surprise when the whole team is putting it back together so quickly and it’s obviously been in the wall. Yesterday we were competitive every lap we did, and today it was not the case.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff acknowledged the situation, noting the car was only completed at the last possible moment before qualifying. “The floor is probably not quite as it should be,” Wolff said. “So all in all, it was a good performance” — a measured assessment given the circumstances.

Russell’s Sunday is further complicated by a power unit penalty stemming from his engine failure in Sepang, which will relegate him to the back of the grid for the main race. When asked what he could realistically aim for, Russell pointed to the contrasting outcomes his teammate Kimi Antonelli has experienced from similar grid positions this season — winning from 19th in Italy, yet only reaching the top ten with ten laps remaining from 16th in Azerbaijan.

“Same driver, same car, but very different outcomes,” Russell said. “So to answer your question, I really don’t know.” With Mercedes already under pressure from Red Bull and Ferrari at Marina Bay, even a points finish looks far from straightforward.