Russell shrugs: 'Collision with Max entirely my fault'

It was clearly not Mercedes' weekend in Las Vegas. Max Verstappen won the race despite a time penalty and a collision with George Russell. For Russell, he couldn't do better than eighth place after receiving a time penalty. Afterwards, the Mercedes explained.

Russell takes blame for Verstappen collision

"Just another massively missed opportunity this weekend," said Russell Sky Sports. "The incident with Max was totally my fault. I didn't see him. Totally in my blind spot around Turn 11. I wasn't really expecting the overtake there because you've got the big long straight with DRS afterwards."

He continued: "We were on course for an easy podium. It was pretty straightforward. Recovered to P4, but the five seconds knocks us down to P8." Russell finished just behind teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was classified seventh due to his penalty.

"This season is one thing after another," Russell continued. "Ultimately, the pace was strong but not as strong as the Red Bulls and Ferraris. I think when you have a fast car, luck is always on your side, and when you're on the backfoot, luck is never on your side. Ultimately, we just need to keep on pushing, go into next week and see what we can do."