Russell delivers bleak upgrade verdict after Singapore nightmare day
Photo: Race Pictures
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Tobia is a Formula 1 journalist at GPblog with experience at international circuits. Since 2022, he has covered Grands Prix across Europe, delivering reliable coverage and insights from the paddock.
George Russell endured a difficult Saturday at the Singapore Grand Prix, crashing out of the Sprint while leading the race before suffering another disappointment in qualifying. The Mercedes driver struggled to recover from his earlier setback, with the car no longer delivering the same level of performance as it did on Friday.
Russell's troubles began during the Sprint, when he lost control of his Mercedes while running at the front of the field and crashed into the barriers. The incident brought his race to a premature end and left his mechanics facing a race against time to repair the car ahead of qualifying. However, Russell already knew before the weekend began that he would start Sunday's Grand Prix from the back of the grid, regardless of his qualifying result.
Despite their efforts, Russell struggled to rediscover the pace that made him competitive throughout Friday's running, eventually qualifying sixth, behind teammate Kimi Antonelli. Speaking to GPblog and other media after qualifying, the Briton took responsibility for his earlier accident but also explained that his Mercedes felt noticeably different following the repairs.
"It's a very bad day all in all and stemming from my own mistake. The objective was to make sure the car was feeling the same as it did yesterday. For whatever reason, it wasn't, which is not sometimes a surprise when the whole team putting it back together so quickly, and it's obviously been in the wall. Yesterday, we were competitive every lap we did, and today was not the case."
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Photo: Race Pictures
Russell admits Mercedes still struggling with new package
Beyond his personal disappointment, Russell also addressed Mercedes' ongoing difficulties with its latest upgrade package. Although teammate Antonelli showed signs of improvement compared to Friday, the Briton made it clear that the team remained some way from extracting the performance it expected from the changes.
"It was positive to see Kimi sort of more competitive today than yesterday. However, we weren't exactly lighting the timing screens on fire. As a team, we're still not satisfied with where we are with the new package. And I think we recognise we need to make some set of adjustments to compensate those changes. Maybe we can find a way to make it work and be fast. But right now we need more time."
Russell now faces a challenging race, with his back-of-the-grid penalty leaving him with considerable ground to make up on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult. Asked about his expectations for Sunday, the Mercedes driver identified a points finish as his immediate target, although he acknowledged that making progress through the field would be far from straightforward.
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"I mean, hoping for points. It's gonna be very challenging. I was at one race starting nineteenth and another race in sixteenth and was only up to P10 with 10 laps remaining or whatever. So, same driver, same car, but very different outcomes."
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