Mercedes sees bright spots despite Russel crash: 'Fighting in front'

George Russell in third place, Lewis Hamilton in fourth and two competitive W14s chasing Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. Everything pointed to Mercedes taking a lot of points from the city-state of Singapore. However, the team saw at least 12 points go down the drain. Mercedes technical director Andrew Shovlin also saw it happen.

Russell was chasing Sainz and Norris so badly that the Brit crashed. He was visibly stricken after sliding off the track. Shovlin saw this. " George couldn't have got to the garage sooner to apologise for the mistake," the Liverpool man told us. " it's a shame not to take those points, but we're a team, and we'll always work through the highs and lows together," Shovlin continued.

So was it all minor at team boss Toto Wolff's team? No, it wasn't. " We had fun racing today," says Shovlin. "There were some brave decisions taken by the strategy team, and the car was working well. It was a good reminder for the entire team of how enjoyable it is to be fighting at the front of a race."

Because both Charles Leclerc and Sainz did 'just' finish, the battle (for second place) in the constructors' standings is becoming very exciting. "What we can say is that our fight with Ferrari for second in the championship is going to get exciting now. We've got a bit of margin on points, but ultimately, it's going to come down to who's got the best car over the next seven races. This weekend will give the whole team even more motivation and energy to get back to fighting at the front week in, week out," Shovlin concluded.