Russell struggled on the tricky wet track throughout the first two qualifying sessions with a Mercedes that felt like it was pushing when he braked through the corners.
He experienced a similar phenomenon on Friday, when he went straight through the same corner in the FP1 and FP2 sessions, and hit the barrier.
“I had a recurring problem that we faced in FP1 where I felt like every time I came into the corner I was kind of like I was speeding up,” he said. he said when asked by Autosport what was wrong.
“And the car was totally pushing. I think we see that problem on the data. But it got progressively worse as qualifying went on.
“So I couldn’t get around any of the corners at low speed. It was literally like someone was trying to push me from behind. So that was a real shame.”
George Russell, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images
When asked if the team knew what caused it, he said: “I don’t know, to be honest. As I was jumping out of the car, my engineer said we saw something on the data.
“But it was there from the first lap of qualifying, but it got progressively worse. So yeah, really frustrating considering how fast the car is here and how fast our race pace is.”
Russell was adamant and not a throttle issue, or an instance of him inadvertently touching the pedal.
“No, it has nothing to do with the accelerator,” he said. “It was the feeling, like I was accelerating into the corner.
“Braking was a bit like I was accelerating before the climax and washing off. I don’t know what the problem is, but we were nowhere.”
When asked if the problem was the cause of his two incidents in training, he added: “Well, I don’t know.
“But it’s something I’ve never, ever noticed before, and never felt before. And it was clearly there in FP1 in my opinion. And as soon as I went out in qualifying, something was wrong.
“The grip was really strong, every time I got into a corner I would completely let go of the brake. And I was going straight everywhere. I just couldn’t get around the corners.”
Russell admitted the issue was particularly frustrating as Mercedes have always regarded Singapore as one of their strongest tracks, as evidenced by Lewis Hamilton’s form in qualifying.
“Whatever the performance, you never want to start 11th in a Grand Prix when you have the car to fight for the win. There has been a safety car every time we have been here.
“Hopefully there will be some pit stops because we have to try to do something different from our rivals. But it won’t be a simple race.”
On the positive side, Russell said there was evidence Mercedes were continuing to get their rebound issues under control.
“I think the pace we have this weekend shows the improvements we’ve made throughout the season in terms of aero and handling.
“Of course, we’re a long way from where we want to be in that regard, but we’ve definitely made a lot of progress. So that’s positive.
“But I’m standing here now when we should have been fighting for pole position. And unfortunately it didn’t work out today.”
Russell struggled on the tricky wet track throughout the first two qualifying sessions with a Mercedes that felt like it was pushing when he braked through the corners.
He experienced a similar phenomenon on Friday, when he went straight through the same corner in the FP1 and FP2 sessions, and hit the barrier.
“I had a recurring problem that we faced in FP1 where I felt like every time I came into the corner I was kind of like I was speeding up,” he said. he said when asked by Autosport what was wrong.
“And the car was totally pushing. I think we see that problem on the data. But it got progressively worse as qualifying went on.
“So I couldn’t get around any of the corners at low speed. It was literally like someone was trying to push me from behind. So that was a real shame.”
George Russell, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images
When asked if the team knew what caused it, he said: “I don’t know, to be honest. As I was jumping out of the car, my engineer said we saw something on the data.
“But it was there from the first lap of qualifying, but it got progressively worse. So yeah, really frustrating considering how fast the car is here and how fast our race pace is.”
Russell was adamant and not a throttle issue, or an instance of him inadvertently touching the pedal.
“No, it has nothing to do with the accelerator,” he said. “It was the feeling, like I was accelerating into the corner.
“Braking was a bit like I was accelerating before the climax and washing off. I don’t know what the problem is, but we were nowhere.”
When asked if the problem was the cause of his two incidents in training, he added: “Well, I don’t know.
“But it’s something I’ve never, ever noticed before, and never felt before. And it was clearly there in FP1 in my opinion. And as soon as I went out in qualifying, something was wrong.
“The grip was really strong, every time I got into a corner I would completely let go of the brake. And I was going straight everywhere. I just couldn’t get around the corners.”
Russell admitted the issue was particularly frustrating as Mercedes have always regarded Singapore as one of their strongest tracks, as evidenced by Lewis Hamilton’s form in qualifying.
“Whatever the performance, you never want to start 11th in a Grand Prix when you have the car to fight for the win. There has been a safety car every time we have been here.
“Hopefully there will be some pit stops because we have to try to do something different from our rivals. But it won’t be a simple race.”
On the positive side, Russell said there was evidence Mercedes were continuing to get their rebound issues under control.
“I think the pace we have this weekend shows the improvements we’ve made throughout the season in terms of aero and handling.
“Of course, we’re a long way from where we want to be in that regard, but we’ve definitely made a lot of progress. So that’s positive.
“But I’m standing here now when we should have been fighting for pole position. And unfortunately it didn’t work out today.”