George Russell will 'wake up upset with himself' for his mistake in Canada, reckons Jenson Button

George Russell will wake up upset with himself after the mistake he made in the race. That is the view of former world champion Jenson Button after the Mercedes driver made a mistake during the race, crashed into the wall, incurred a lot of damage, and hence suffered the consequences in the race.

George Russell spent the early part of the race in P4, behind Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. While Alonso had been jumped by Lewis at the start of the race, the trio was running in formation in the early stages of the race.

Fernando Alonso, in his Aston Martin, was hounding Lewis Hamilton, while George Russell was right behind the duo. It was at this stage that the young Mercedes driver made a mistake. The mistake meant he would clatter into the wall, causing a puncture and bodywork damage.

While George Russell joined the race again at the back of the grid, he would retire with a few laps left at the end of the race. Speaking to Sky Sports about Russell, Jenson Button said that the Mercedes driver wasn't going to sleep well at night.

He said:

"Most corners around the world you would be fine as you can run wide. But you have the walls up against the kerb here. It's tricky. It's unusual for George to make a mistake like that. It will hit home. He won't sleep well tonight and wake up upset with himself. It's a lot of points lost which we don't normally say with Mercedes but for them they are in a fight with Aston."

George Russell apologies to Mercedes for the mistake

George Russell apologized to the team and everyone else involved with the Mercedes project for the collision. As quoted by F1TV.com, Russell said:

“Apologies to the team. We’ve put so much hard work and effort into this weekend and a small mistake has had massive consequences. I was doing everything I could to put Fernando [Alonso] under pressure. I then ran a little bit wide and hit the kerb; next thing I knew I was in the wall."

He continued:

"That’s at least 12 points that we’ve left on the table today. We did a good job after that to get back into the mix. Sadly we had an issue with the brakes which forced us to retire the car. They felt OK from my side, but the team can see the data and could see that we couldn’t continue."

He added:

"I’m disappointed with the race today but there are positives we can take away. The car was quick on a circuit that we weren’t expecting to be that competitive and we took the fight to those around us. The team is doing a great job and the future is exciting. Let’s see what the upcoming races bring.”

The crash would not be ideal for any young driver, but also for the ones making their way through the field for the first time.

Edited by Yasho Amonkar