George Russell hit with penalty after causing 'heartbreak' for Sainz in US GP collision
George Russell collided with Carlos Sainz at the US GP.
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Mercedes driver George Russell has been penalised for his collision with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz on turn one of the US Grand Prix. Sainz was in pole position but after making contact with the Brit, fell to the bottom of the grid in Texas before retiring from the race.
Russell was then handed a five-second time penalty for his part. Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle said that he thought that the penalty was deserved after the commentators claimed that Sainz will be "heartbroken" after falling to the back.
"Carlos was taking the racing line up there, and George, trying to claim the apex, he was all locked up and hadn’t got full control of his car at the time," Brundle said. "Sainz was perfectly within his rights, under control, on the racing line – I think Russell will take a penalty for that."
The Spaniard's session then got even worse as at the back of the grid he reported that he had also suffered a puncture. Sainz messaged his team with the news. "Puncture I think," Sainz said on his radio, before he went back to the garage.
Ferrari claimed that they were forced to retire Sainz's car due to a water leak caused by the contact from Russell's Mercedes. Russell's car suffered some slight damage to his right wing, but he was able to pass Lance Stroll up to third, behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton and race leader Max Verstappen.
Sainz's team will be disappointed as they were hoping for him and Charles Leclerc to pick up important points in the constructors' title race. Ferrari needed to outscore Red Bull by 19 points to avoid Verstappen's team claiming the title.
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Sainz's team-mate Leclerc moved up five places in one positive for the team, as Ted Kravitz claimed he can make the ground up on the pack ahead of him after starting the day in 12th.
"I have been tracking his lap time and he is able to do the lap time that Max has done," said Kravitz. "But then he gets in the dirty air in front of him and Leclerc has not been able to get within a second of Sebastian Vettel in front of him."
Before the race, Russell claimed he was aiming to win in the US. "I’m in the mood for it. I think it’s going to be a good day. I’m excited, a lot can happen," Russell said. "I’m not too sure about the strategy, it’s just all to play for. We’re in a good position, we’ve got two of us at the front, so I think we’re going to be bold and go for this win."