2023-09-18 10:55:00
In theory, both Mercedes drivers had a chance to get on the podium in Singapore, and George Russell, during the Grand Prix, talking with his engineer, repeated more than once that he intended to compete for victory. But in reality it turned out differently: Lewis Hamilton took 3rd place, and his teammate made a mistake on the last lap, crashed the car just a few turns before the finish and did not see the checkered flag.
“It’s great that Lewis is on the podium, he had a great race, maintaining a great pace until the very finish,” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said on Sky Sports. “But it’s a pity for George, because he put in so much effort.” We might easily have finished 3rd and 4th and scored a lot of points, but instead our lead over Ferrari was reduced to 24 points.
Initially, it was clear that it would be very difficult to win the race, so we decided to take a risk and use alternative tactics – in the end Lewis climbed to the podium, and this is a great result.
When George flew off the track, he spoke regarding this situation on the radio, but those words of his cannot be spoken on television. It was just a bad moment: he made a small mistake, but at the same time caught the bump stop, and in a split second the race was over for him, although before that everything was going very well. If not for that mistake, he would have finished third.
If we had not made the second pit stop and stayed on the track like our rivals, I think we would not have had a chance to compete for the victory – that is why we decided to take the risk. At the same time, we understood that in the worst case we would have taken 3rd and 5th places, and in the best case we would have won, but this is purely theoretical.
I have no doubt that following such a failure George is very worried, so now it is important to cheer him up – that’s what I’m going to do.
Our goals for the remaining races of the season are to earn more points than Ferrari, show higher speeds and make the most of all opportunities. But it seems that our car is getting faster, in Singapore we were capable of good pace and we hope that we can maintain 2nd place in the Constructors’ Championship.”
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