George Russell has bemoaned being the recipient of "one thing after another" during the Japanese Grand Prix, after poor luck cost him what he felt would have been victory.
The Mercedes driver was on the receiving end of more than his fair share of bad luck, with the safety car being deployed the lap after he pitted and just before Kimi Antonelli came in for fresh tyres.
It handed a significant advantage to his team-mate, who thereafter cruised to his second successive win, taking control of the F1 drivers' championship fight in the process as Russell failed to reach the podium.
Both W17 drivers suffered poor launches off the line, which has been a considerable issue for the Brackley-based squad this year, but the Briton was progressing through the field better than Antonelli when Oliver Bearman's huge crash interrupted proceedings.
Reflecting on his misfortune, the six-time grand prix winner told media, including RacingNews365: "Obviously, our starts: normal, poor,"
"Safety car, one lap different, and we'd have won the race. So that's still part of racing, but thereafter, everything was just issues after one another."
Prior to that, Russell was second and hunting down race leader Oscar Piastri. But even then, things were about to get more difficult for the 28-year-old.
At the safety car restart, he hit his harvest limit, leaving him vulnerable to Lewis Hamilton, who promptly took third position from him.
Then, a few laps later, Russell's car unexpectedly started super clipping, and Charles Leclerc also got past.
The pair got the better of Hamilton, who was experiencing problems of his own, but reclaiming his place on the rostrum was a bridge too far for the Mercedes driver.
"I couldn't recharge my battery at the safety car restart, so Lewis just flew by me, and then obviously had the issue later in the race with Charles and the battery, where I just had no speed, and obviously passed me," he said.
"So yeah, just one thing after another."
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