Carlos Sainz started from pole position, but had to retire after just one lap as he was hit hard by
George Russell at the first corner. The British
Mercedes driver has since apologised to the Spaniard and they seem to have been accepted.
It was a chaotic start for Sainz. The
Ferrari driver had the best starting position, but did not get away as well as
Max Verstappen who started right behind him. At the first corner, Sainz was battling with the Dutchman when suddenly Russell made a big error of judgement and hit the Spaniard on his side. For Sainz, the race was immediately over as a water leak had been caused. Russell received a five-second penalty.
Sainz and Russell make up
Sainz was logically unhappy with Russell's action after the race. The Spaniard wondered how drivers in the top four of the field could make such mistakes. Sainz wisely kept his mouth shut about the "only" five-second penalty Russell received for eliminating the pole-running
Ferrari driver. However, a video posted by
F1 on
Twitter shows Russell going into Ferrari's motorhome afterwards to apologise.
The video reads,
"Apology accepted... George dropped by to say sorry to Carlos after the race." From the accompanying text and the handshake between Russell and a Ferrari employee, it appears that Russell's mistake has been forgiven. However, Russell did manage to extend his lead over his Spanish rival by 11 points with his P5 finish and fastest lap.
Lewis Hamilton s P2 means the Briton is now only four points behind the pointless Sainz in America.