George Russell has blasted his "nothing" of a mistake as a "pathetic excuse" for crashing out of the Singapore Grand Prix. On the 62nd and last lap, Russell clipped a wall on the entry to Turn 10 and skated off down the escape road, throwing away what would have been just a second podium of the season. The Mercedes driver led team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a late charge on a fresh set of Mediums as the pair battled for the win - but could not get past Lando Norris's McLaren for second as Carlos Sainz held on for the win. Hamilton inherited the podium as an emotional and frankly honest Russell explained just how the incident happened.
Russell heartbroken over crash
"It was a very strange race with Carlos managing the pace for the whole duration," Russell told media including RacingNews365. "It's quite difficult to keep the concentration because we were driving one and a half seconds of the pace, but it was only natural for him to do that with the tyre advantage we had, if he was any faster, it would have only given us the opportunity to [pit under] the (Virtual) Safety Car. "That was when the race really turned on its head and got really exciting, and I was really pushing flat out. But again, Carlos did a great job managing the gap, and the DRS with Lando was very smart of him to do that. "I had half a chance [overtaking] Lando, and I think I would have won the race had I got ahead of Lando, and Carlos would have been stuck with DRS and I would have flew by. "Instead I end the race in the wall and have no idea how that happened. It was probably a lack of concentration, maybe frustration knowing that it was the last lap and the opportunity [to win] was gone. "A one-centimetre mistake clouded the whole weekend. "In the moment, you just want to curl up in a ball and be with nobody. It is the most horrendous feeling in the world. "When you are so physically and mentally drained and miss out on an opportunity for victory, to make such a mistake is truly heartbreaking. "I'm not just going to brush it off, such a nothing of a mistake. If I spun off or had a lock up and ended in the wall, I'd be feeling very different. "To clip the wall on the last lap is just a pathetic excuse, so it feels strange. "It was probably my lack of concentration as soon as it was the last lap and the opportunity was gone. It goes to show that you just need to stay on it and it doesn't matter what the scenario is."
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