"He continues to grow" - Lewis Hamilton pours his support for teammate George Russell after his crash in the Singapore Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton summarised George Russell’s error during the 2023 Singapore GP as an unfortunate situation. Speaking at the post-race press conference, the Briton felt it was a pressured situation where any driver could have gotten it wrong.

In a situation where the top four cars finishing the race were barely split by a second, Russell crashed into the barriers on the final lap, promoting the seven-time world champion to the podium.

Asked by Sportskeeda to explain the fine line between keeping calm in a pressured situation and losing control, the Brit felt it was an unfortunate incident for his teammate.

Supporting his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton explained the situation, saying:

"Well, we're all trying to be millimetre-perfect out there and it's very, very easy to make mistakes, it's very easy too for any us to have been in the position that George was in. He's been driving phenomenally all weekend, so it was really unfortunate for him – last lap – to finish that way."

"But he continues to grow, he’s continuing to improve so I know that he's going to keep getting stronger and faster and if there's any way I can help, I will be a part of that naturally in the next couple of years," he added.

With his wealth of experience and success in similarly pressured situations, Lewis Hamilton has always been known for his calm and opportunistic nature during a race, particularly capitalising on rare opportunities.

Answering Sportskeeda’s question about where a driver can make the difference in a pressured scenario, he felt it was about staying focused on the moment at hand.

Hamilton empathized with his teammate and recollected a similar scenario where he crashed out of the Singapore GP last year at Turn 7.

The multiple champion believed it was a scenario in which any driver could make a mistake under pressure. Both Mercedes drivers could have been aiming for a double podium, but only one made it to the third while the other retired.

"But yeah, I have a lot of experience, I've been here a long time so putting together a race is… not that it’s easy but the race is where I'm most comfortable on track and yeah, I think it's just keeping your head down, it’s trying not to make...," Hamilton said.

"But if you look at last year for example, I made a mistake in Turn Seven and went off and crashed into the wall so it can happen to any one of us and it's just one of those things," he added.

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Lewis Hamilton believes he could have kept McLaren at bay if he was in George Russell’s place

Summarising the late call to pit for an extra set of tires during VSC, Lewis Hamilton felt it was worth the risk. Both Mercedes drivers had an extra set of medium tires saved for such a scenario, as explained by Toto Wolff after qualifying.

With a win within reach, the British champion felt he would have at least targeted getting past Lando Norris’s McLaren if he were in George Russell’s place. The Mercedes junior driver was running third when he crashed out but could not get past the McLaren or pressure race winner Carlos Sainz.

Asked about the choice of a second pit stop for medium tyres, Lewis Hamilton said:

"Yeah, I think so. I mean, we needed to take the risk, have a shot at trying to get past some of these guys and going for the win. I think we had really good pace. So I think the team did a great job."

"I don't know, I think George was in second at the time, and maybe if I was in his position, I probably would have stayed out and at least kept the McLaren behind. But we gave it a shot. And it was really fun to be hunting these guys down. But as Lando said it was just too difficult to pass in the end," he added.

While Ferrari had the qualifying pace, both drivers had warned that Mercedes would have more race pace. The Maranello squad was cautiously optimistic about being able to convert their grid positions into a satisfactory result.

However, with the Singapore circuit being a difficult one to overtake on, Sainz managed to ward off both Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

The seven-time world champion was the quicker out of both Mercedes cars on the medium tyres as both drivers ahead continued to struggle on a worn-out set of hard tyres.

Lewis Hamilton has now overtaken Fernando Alonso to clinch third place in the drivers' championship, with the Spaniard trailing him by ten points. With seven rounds left on the calendar, the Brit is only 43 points behind Sergio Perez who is in second place.