Russell apologized to team for 'messed up start' to Styrian GP

George Russell apologized profusely to his team for the mishap that destroyed his race early on and nullified his career best P11 starting position in the Styrian Grand Prix.

On Saturday, Russell achieved the remarkable feat of making it into Q2 where the Briton qualified 12th but gained a spot on Sunday's grid thanks to Charles Leclerc grid penalty.

However, Russell's favourable position among the pack was short lived, the Williams charger running wide at the Red Bull Ring's Turn 6 and sliding into the gravel trap.

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The 22-year-old extricated himself from run-off area to endure a lonely afternoon along with teammate Nicholas Latifi as the two made up the rear and finished respectively 16th and 17th.

"Apologies to the team, I completely messed that up at the start," he admitted when all was said and done.

"I made a good start, maintained position and as trying to hold my position around the outside of Turn 6 and I just completely lost it, there was no grip up there.

"Needless to say, apologies to the team and I will bounce back next week."

Russell felt that even without his mistake he would have been hard pressed to finish any higher than he did given the Williams' disappointing race pace in Austria.

"Our pace was particularly slow today, has been now for two weeks in a row," he said.

"We come into the race thinking our race pace is as strong as our qualifying pace, but it turned out to be the opposite way. We need to understand that and improve."

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