George Russell crashes out of the Singapore Grand Prix
George Russell was left 'lost for words' after his first chance of a win this year ended in disaster after a crash on the penultimate lap of the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday.
The driver from Tydd St Giles had his first front row start for 12 races yet failed to break his run of never scoring a point in Singapore.
Russell had a strong start to the weekend with consistently quick lap times across the three practice sessions, including a brilliant lap good enough for second on the timesheets.
This confidence continued into qualifying where Russell's opening lap included purple sectors and sent the Brit to the top of the timesheets and into the next stage.
Russell then continued his good run after the red flag delay with another lap faster than the rest of the field which secured his position in the final stage of qualifying and the shootout for pole.
Russell's first lap was only good enough for fourth but, after switching to a fresh set of soft tyres, the 25-year-old improved on his time and put him second on the grid - 0.072 seconds off pole position.
Starting alongside Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, Russell lost positions on the start as the second Ferrari passed the Brit on softer tyres and his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton left the track to overtake him.
Hamilton then rightfully returned Russell's third place and he began to chase down the leading Ferraris, setting the then fastest lap in the process.
The safety car was then deployed due to an incident which allowed Russell to dive into the pits and switch to the hard tyre without losing track position.
Russell then overtook championship leader Max Verstappen for second place and began to catch race leader Carlos Sainz.
Despite being less than a second behind the Spaniard, Russell did not have the pace to overtake for the lead so his Mercedes team took the brazen decision to pit for fresh medium tyres under the virtual safety car (VSC).
After the VSC, Russell was 17 seconds behind the second Ferrari of Leclerc but managed to close the gap and pass the Monegasque within 10 laps to regain third place.
Russell then mounted a charge on McLaren's Lando Norris and closed the gap to less than a second but failed to make the move.
Under pressure on the penultimate lap, Russell clipped the wall and careered off the track at turn 10, spelling the end for his chance at a maiden points finish at Marina Bay.
Russell's disappointing end to a great weekend caused his third DNF (did not finish) of the season and has led to the Mercedes driver dropping further behind the Ferraris in seventh place in the drivers' standings.
Russell said: "I am lost for words. I think we were half a car’s length away from winning the race. If I was able to pass Norris, I am sure I would have been able to overtake Sainz.
"Unfortunately I missed that opportunity. I made a mistake by one or two centimetres on that last lap, and I clipped the wall. It’s a mistake that has overshadowed my whole weekend. Up to that point, it had been a fantastic race weekend.
"The car felt great, and the team had done an incredible job. Our strategy was superb, and we were bold and aggressive. It was exciting out there and it’s heart-breaking to be standing here with zero points.
"Nevertheless, there are positives to take away. I will likely have a couple of bad nights, but I will put this behind me and come back stronger next weekend in Japan."
The 2023 Formula One season continues this weekend for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.