George Russell calls Singapore GP “story of the season” after surge from P19 to P9

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

George Russell said his Singapore Grand Prix weekend became the “story of the season” for him after a tough Sunday recovery at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The Mercedes driver crossed the line in ninth after beginning the race from P19, having worked his way through the field following a weekend that began with major setbacks.

Russell’s problems continued after Saturday’s Sprint, when he crashed out of the lead. For Sunday, he also received a grid penalty tied to taking new power unit components following his retirement last time out in Malaysia. As a result, he dropped from his qualifying position of P6 down to P19, leaving him to fight for points from the back.

Sunday’s climb started with momentum. Russell moved into the top 10 before a potential turning point arrived when a Virtual Safety Car was triggered. He had appeared poised to make an advantageous pit stop under the VSC, but the timing worked against him: the VSC ended as he entered the pits, limiting the benefit he could gain from the phase.

In the latter stages, Russell battled for position while chasing Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg in a fight for eighth. Despite closing in, Russell was unable to find a pass and ultimately settled for ninth as the race concluded. The result capped a weekend he characterized as difficult from start to finish.

After the race, Russell said Mercedes made progress early. “I think we made good progress in the first stint, to be honest,” he reflected. He added that he was “pretty pleased with the progress there,” but suggested the second stint could have been managed differently. “However, the second stint with that VSC… could have stayed out a little bit longer.”

Russell pointed to Hülkenberg’s resistance as another factor in the inability to convert gains into an eighth-place finish. “Then Nico did a great job defending – I struggled to get by him,” he said, before explaining that late in the race, the risk of trying to force a move was not justified. “And then towards the end of the race, it wasn’t worth the risk so I just brought the car home. Not a fantastic weekend, so a bit of a shame.”

Looking at the broader campaign, Russell said the Singapore result felt like a continuation of recent struggles. “It was always going to be very difficult coming from the back,” he said, adding that the last two weekends had not played out the way they could have. He described it as “a little bit [of] story of the season,” saying “everything just not going in a fantastic way,” and indicated he was now looking ahead to a break.

Russell also acknowledged that he may need to serve another engine-related penalty later in the season. He suggested that options could include a track such as Vegas, but said the immediate priority was making the best choice with timing. “We’re maybe looking at Vegas, but it will be there at some point,” he said, adding that Mercedes has flexibility. “But now we’ve got the choice to take it when we wish, and we’ll be choosing a slightly easier track than this one.”

On the team’s direction, Russell said Mercedes intends to focus on restoring the form it showed earlier in the season while it continues to work through the performance implications of recent upgrades. “The goal right now is to try and improve the car,” he said. He argued that, in the most recent races, Red Bull had been strongest, and pointed to how different circuits have changed outcomes—for example, comparing results across Baku, Malaysia and Singapore—before concluding that the team needs to “get on top of these updates.”