George Russell says he spun in the pit lane exit during the Brazilian Grand Prix because he thought he had a race-winning opportunity.
The Mercedes driver was running third early in the race as the track was drying. He was within 10 seconds of race leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli when he came in to swap his intermediate tyres for slicks on lap 17.However Russell spun when he reached the pit lane exit. The error cost him around 16 seconds and dropped him behind several of his rivals.
“Obviously it was a bit of an up and down race,” said Russell, who eventually finished fourth. “I’ve no idea what happened on that pit exit, I probably just took too much risk because I was seeing an opportunity to go for the win at that point, but it happened.”
Russell was one of few drivers who only made two pit stops during the race, keeping his set of slick tyres on until the rain returned in the closing stages.
“Ironically, because that happened, I then didn’t pit for another set of slick tyres and it kind of put me back in the same position as I was before the incident,” he acknowledged.
The Mercedes driver set the second-fastest time in qualifying, and believed he could have been quickest had he not aborted his final run under instruction from his race engineer. He said he was satisfied with his performance.
“I’m probably more happy coming away from the weekend because the performance was good,” said Russell, who started seventh following a penalty for replacing his engine. “At this stage I care more about the performance and I care about the result because that’s what’s been my weak point.
“The performance yesterday was great, the performance on the soft tyre was really great today but obviously I did make that mistake. But it probably would have been a different picture if we’d have started P2.”
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