Russell lays the blame on Grosjean for Singapore crash

George Russell blamed Romain Grosjean for his retirement from Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix, the Williams charger hitting the wall after a contact with the Haas driver.

The pair were battling for position down the field when Grosjean lunged on the outside of Russell into Turn 8 before clipping the Williams' left-rear tyre on the exit.

The contact pitched Russell into the wall while the Frenchman was allowed to continue his way on to a P11 finish.

"I shouldn't be surprised," quipped a fuming Russell over the radio as he exited his stricken car.

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The two drivers had a word with each other after the race, but Russell was unimpressed with his rival's attitude.

“He said I left him no room and that he was in the wall before he hit me. And I just said, well, that’s absolutely not the case, because I had the last hour to be able to watch the video," Russell said.

"It’s a shame that it just ruined my race and not his too. So that’s probably why he doesn’t feel like he was in the wrong.

"At the end of the day, if the exact same incident were to happen again, there is nothing I would do different."

The incident was reviewed by the stewards, but no further action was deemed necessary.

Russell accepted Grosjean's aggressive move on the outside of the Williams but insisted the Haas driver should have given up on the exit of the corner given the Briton's advantage.

"Romain had his right to lunge it down the inside at the apex of the corner, we were side by side, but I had the inside momentum and come mid-exit phase I was well ahead, half a car’s length to three quarters of it ahead of him," explained Russell.

"And by that point, the guy on the inside has got the right to take the racing line, and it’s the guy-on-the-outside’s job to concede the corner.

"And I don’t really know what he was trying to do, because even if he committed a bit more he still wouldn’t have been able to overtake."

Needless to say, Grosjean disagreed with Russell's view.

"We were side by side and then George went on throttle early and I was on the left so I didn’t have much room to go more to the left, obviously there’s a wall there," he said.

"What I think is that he had a moment mid-corner with his rear and touched my front, and that sent him the other way around.

"It’s bloody difficult to overtake in that circuit and when you know there’s a car on entry phase next to you, you know it’s going to do the corner on the outside, so I’ve had the occasion with a few other guys and it’s gone okay.

"I need to see the footage, obviously George is not super happy, but I don’t think I had much more room to go any more on the left."

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