Mercedes driver George Russell has taken responsibility for the collision between him and Max Verstappen midway through the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The world champion made a surprise attack at the breaking point for Turn 12 on lap 25 and caught Russell off guard. The Briton started to turn on the normal trajectory, not realizing that Verstappen was next to him and, as expected, there was contact between the two.
Afterwards, Verstappen drove to the end of the race with a broken front wing, and Russell had to deal with floor damage. In addition, the stewards penalized him with 5 seconds, which cost him four positions after the finish.
In his interview with Sky Sports F1 shortly after the end of the race, the Briton admitted that the fault for this incident was his and said that he regretted the missed opportunity to attack the podium in Las Vegas.
Max Verstappen 💥 George Russell 😳
The two drivers making contact in Vegas 🫣#LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/SJNsinjxfJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 19, 2023
“Another missed opportunity this weekend. The incident with Max was entirely my fault. I just didn’t see it. It was in my blind spot in turn #11. I didn’t really expect an attack there because then comes the long straight that has DRS. We were on our way to an easy podium. It was simple. I managed to get to 4th, but after the penalty I dropped to 8th.
“The whole season is one thing after another. Our pace was good today, but not as fast as Ferrari and Red Bull. I think when you have a fast car luck is always on your side and when you are behind it is the opposite. We’ll have to keep pushing and see what happens next week,” Russell said.