“The things he said on the radio cannot be repeated on television,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on “Sky” after the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. This refers to George Russell, who crashed while in third place on the last lap of the race.
“It was just an unfortunate moment,” says Wolff about the accident and explains: “He touched the wall. It was a small mistake in a split second, and that ends a great race. It’s a shame because he would have deserved.”
The Briton is “totally exhausted,” reveals Wolff, but he emphasizes that “that can just happen. I always say: He’s a young driver, it’s his second year in a fast car. I’d rather that happen [im Kampf] for third place – and not for a victory, as it will be in the future.”
When asked whether he would now cheer Russell up, he replied: “Yes, absolutely. I think as a driver you’re down at a moment like that. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Everything could have turned out completely differently and Russell could have even won the race.
Because when the virtual safety car was deployed after Esteban Ocon’s retirement on lap 44, Russell was in second place behind Carlos Sainz. Both he and teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was fourth at the time, pitted under the VSC.
As a result, the Mercedes drivers fell back to fourth and fifth place, but they had fresh medium tires on them for the last 18 laps of the race, while the other drivers at the front were on hard tires that had already had several laps on them.
“We tried to win,” Wolff explains the “courageous” decision and explains: “The positive thing is that I liked the decision of the driver and strategy team. They said: We’ll try!” At the end of the VSC phase, Russell was initially 18 seconds behind Sainz.
“At first it looked like we wouldn’t make it,” reveals Wolff. But then shortly afterwards the computer spit out the prediction that Mercedes would even achieve a one-two victory. “But of course that was just the theory,” said Wolff. Because in the end it didn’t work.
Wolff: Would make the same decision again
Nevertheless, the team boss emphasizes that the risk was worth it because: “It was clear that it would be very difficult to win the race if everything remained static.” When asked whether the race could have been won without the additional stop, Wolff replied: “No.”
“I don’t think we would have been able to do that. That’s why we took the risk. We knew that the worst case scenario was fourth and fifth. But the best case scenario would have been a win,” said the team boss, for whom the additional stop was “absolutely the right decision”.
Because without the pit stop under the VSC, the race would probably have ended without any further overtaking maneuvers at the front – so for Mercedes with P2 and P4. “But we wanted to win the race. That’s why we took the risk and I would do it again and again,” explains Wolff.
At first things went well for Russell and Hamilton because Charles Leclerc wasn’t a big obstacle for them. In the final phase they were directly behind the leading duo of Sainz and Lando Norris. But Russell couldn’t get past the McLaren.
The Brit is annoyed: “Half a car length more and we would have won the race, because then I would have passed Lando and Carlos wouldn’t have had DRS. I would have flown past him. Instead the race ended in the wall.”
Because Sainz consciously gave Norris DRS, he was able to defend himself against Russell until the last lap. Then the Mercedes driver made the crucial mistake. “In the last lap, millimeters were missing in terms of concentration – and that was it,” he shrugs.
“I’m sorry for the whole team,” said Russell, who explained to Sky: “[Es war] such a long, physical race. It was difficult to stay focused. Carlos did a great job. He slowed the field down and didn’t allow us to try the alternative strategy.”
Russell: Victory was already gone in the crash anyway
Without the virtual safety car, Mercedes would have lost too much time with an additional pit stop. “We were lucky with the safety car and then the race turned on its head and was really exciting,” said Russell.
“I gave it full throttle, but Carlos did a good job again and managed the gap to Lando in the DRS. That was very clever of him,” he praises and says about his accident at the end: “I have no idea how that happened is.”
“Probably a lack of concentration or frustration because I knew it was the last round and the chance [auf den Sieg] was gone. A mistake of just one centimeter overshadows the whole weekend,” says Russell, who is actually happy with his performance.
“At that moment you just want to hide away and be alone. It’s the most terrible feeling in the world when you’re so physically and mentally drained and you’ve missed a chance to win. If you make a mistake like that, then that’s it “It’s really heartbreaking,” he admits.
But with some distance he also sees the positive sides of the weekend. “It was a great weekend. I really feel like I drove better than ever before. Qualifying yesterday was great, the race was great. I felt confident and good,” he reveals.
“I’m not going to let a two-centimeter mistake ruin this for me,” he clarifies and emphasizes: “The night and the morning will probably be hard. But then I’ll put this behind me and move on. All I can do is focus on “We apologize to the team because they deserved more.”
Norris in front of him also touched the wall
“But ‘shit happens’,” says Russell, who admits: “Of course I won’t be able to just shake it off. But the mistake was so tiny. If I had spun or braked and ended up in the wall, then I would feel completely different.”
“But touching the wall in the last lap is such a measly mistake,” he emphasizes and explains: “The victory was already gone in the last lap anyway. If it had been about victory in the last lap, then it would have been I can’t stand here now.”
Curious: Norris touched the wall in the same place directly in front of him. “I saw Lando touch the wall. In that split second I thought to myself: Oh, he touched the wall. And immediately afterwards I touch the wall myself.”
“I risked everything and drove hard. It was difficult because I wanted to manage my tires so that I could have the best possible tires at the end of the race. That’s why I asked my team what lap times I needed to achieve at the end of the race to be ahead,” said Russell.
“I didn’t want to go half a second faster and then end up running out of tires. But on the other hand, there was Lewis behind me who was pushing. So you have to find the balance between a few things. But like I said: I felt confident and good.”
“Carlos played it strategically perfectly. Lando also did a great job. With a small difference it could have been a completely different result. But the overtaking maneuver against Lando wasn’t meant to be,” shrugs Russell.
Russell: Don’t actually make many mistakes
“It was a very, very easy mistake. It’s a street circuit and these things happen,” said Russell, who also emphasized: “That’s how racing should be: you make a small mistake and you pay the price for it.” He clarifies: “I feel like overall I’m not a driver who makes stupid mistakes.”
“I don’t feel like I crash often in qualifying or practice. But I’ve made some very, very simple mistakes over the years that have had big consequences. I have to look at that because I don’t feel like it It suits me to do something like that.”
“As I said: We were so fast this weekend and I take that as a positive. These mistakes won’t happen if we’re fighting for a championship, I can guarantee that,” said Russell, who bottom line is “a lot of positive things” from Singapore takes with you.
Toto Wolff also emphasizes: “I feel sorry for George because he had a weekend that was 99.9 percent perfect. And for a split second he lost concentration and touched the wall.” He “gave everything and pushed hard to win the race.”
“At that point, the only way to overtake Norris and then Sainz was not to waste a millimeter on the track,” he explains and also emphasizes: “If you push like that, these things can happen.” It was still “a great weekend” for Russell.
“In the end he just ran out of rounds,” said Wolff.