George Russell has stated he was expecting a crash with Max Verstappen on the opening lap of the Qatar Grand Prix. Russell inherited pole position for the race on Saturday after Verstappen was issued a one-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly during a cool-down lap. Verstappen has since lashed out at Russell for his plea to the stewards on Saturday to issue the now-four-time world champion a grid penalty. With Verstappen keen to recover the leading position, Russell admitted he was expecting to come together with the Red Bull driver on the opening lap. “To be honest I was expecting a crash, but ultimately we made it easy for him because both Lewis and I made a terrible start,” Russell told media including RacingNews365 . “It was a pretty simple overtake for him which was a bit frustrating for us. “It's strange how when things are working and the car is quick, everything seems just to work so well. “When the car is off the pace a bit, everything just seems to go wrong and today was a great example of that.” Russell ended the grand prix in fourth place despite facing adversities, including a seven-second pit stop and a five-second time penalty for a safety car infringement. “I think P4 is probably a flattering result, considering how the race went. It's funny how this sport changes overnight,” Russell added. “Everything was great on Friday. Saturday was a great day, and then we had no pace today. “At best, we were two or three-tenths behind Max and Lando. The start was bad, I had a slow pit stop, a penalty - I don't even know what for, to be honest.”
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