George Russell has conceded his retirement from the Canadian Grand Prix is a "bitter pill to swallow" with Mercedes again showing positive signs on track. The British driver crashed at Turn 9 on lap 13 after running wide a corner earlier, skipping over the kerb and breaking traction on landing. Damage was caused to the right rear and front wing but after crawling back to the pits under Safety Car conditions, Russell was able to continue, albeit from the back of the pack. Addressing the crash, Russell told media, including RacingNews365.com : "I went a bit wide into Turn 8, knew I was going to hit the kerb but I wasn't expecting the sausage kerb to have such a violent response and the next thing, I am in the air and lost the rear when I landed, then in the wall. "It all happened really quite suddenly. Sorry to the team, for sure there was P3 and P4 in the car for us both but positives to take away that the car was reasonably competitive. Russell leapt from his cockpit to assist Zhou Guanyu after the scary incident on the first lap of the British Grand Prix last season, meaning he would not be able to continue despite minimal damage being sustained by his Mercedes. Asked if he initially thought his incident had put him out of the race, Russell added: "I did to be honest, I was surprised I was able to continue, I was very close to pulling up but I learned from my Silverstone experience not to stop to early. "For sure, it is a difficult pill to swallow, but that's how sport should be, once you make a mistake, you should be punished for it."
Despite continuing, Russell eventually retired from the race in the closing stages with his Mercedes team suggesting his left-front brake temperature was critical. On the state of his W14 after rejoining the race, Russell explained: "It didn't feel perfect but it was absolutely good enough to drive. The rear tow was probably a little bit out. "We could have probably finished P8 but we were in a lot of traffic. The pre-race predictions, we weren't expecting to be in that position, hence why we probably got the brakes in the wrong place. "I am pretty sure it was in I was in so much traffic, we weren't planning to be and the brakes weren't in the right spot for that."
Most read
