George Russell admits that his "he cut across me" claim following his clash with Carlos Sainz at COTA was a bid to influence the stewards.

As the smoke cleared following the first corner clash which saw the Mercedes T-bone the Spaniard's Ferrari, while Sainz was asking his team "what happened", Russell's response to the incident was to immediately apportion blame. "He cut across me," he declared.

The stewards were in no doubt however, and subsequently handed the Briton a 5s time penalty.

In the aftermath of the race, Russell immediately sought out the Spaniard to apologise, causing some to question why he'd tried to blame the Ferrari driver in the first place.

"When you're in the car, you want to get the best result possible regardless of what may have just happened," he told reporters today. "You're always going to try and defend your case to the best of your ability.

"Obviously, when you get the opportunity to see that incident afterwards, maybe your views are slightly different," he admitted. "My views weren't different. I thought I was at fault for that crash with Carlos but I'm not going to come on the radio during the middle of the race before the FIA have made a decision to say 'I'm so sorry, that was my fault and give me a big penalty'.

"I think that's just the racing driver mentality," he added. "Once the decision has been made, and the penalty has been taken, that's when the apologies came out. I think that's really the same for all of us in that regard."

"It's the kind of incident you expect more to see in the midfield," said Sainz, "when you have so many cars around you. But in the top four, you don't see that incident happen that often and that's why I was so frustrated after the race.

"I obviously accepted George's apologies, because it was good from him to do it, but there was nothing I could have done on track."

Admitting that, in his opinion, the FIA was "a bit easy on him for the consequences that happened", Sainz said: "It always honours the guy that apologises straight away after the race and I always respect that. But that doesn't mean that I'm happy."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by NEEDFORSPEED, 28/10/2022 17:59

"I guess he's taking a page other Lewis Hamilton strategy book"

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2. Posted by Defiant, 28/10/2022 16:46

"All the drivers do the same thing... claiming some moral high ground is just utter nonsense and fuelled by brand fan boy emotions.

I'm pleased George held his hands up and apologised to Carlos, but like most people I'm aware that an apology doesn't right a wrong, Carlos paid a far higher price (something that has happened for decades in all motorsport). A mistake is a mistake, not an intentional crash but some like to treat all accidents this way.

5s penalty probably wasn't high enough though, George should have paid a higher price for it.

What I'd like to see (delusional as it is), is drivers not spouting bs over the radio to influence the stewards, as they just make themselves look like petulant children... (I know a few are)."

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3. Posted by alvarezh3, 28/10/2022 14:09

"Kenji said: "Hopefully there will be some payback somewhere along the line."

And I will finish the sentence: NASCAR style! :-)"

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4. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 28/10/2022 13:48

"A 5 second penalty does not really fit the crime."

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5. Posted by Chester, 28/10/2022 12:35

"I am quickly losing respect for Russell. I like him better when Claire had him trapped at Williams. "

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6. Posted by kenji, 28/10/2022 10:15

"What a doozy! Here is Russel owning what was blatantly obvious at the time....some 5 days later. To the morally superior fans Russel has now admitted that he was trying to cheat by way of attempting to inluence others to make a incorrect judgment. What I find totally distasteful is the fact that Russell got to finish the race and Sainz got totally taken out. Hopefully there will be some payback somewhere along the line."

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Russell admits trying to influence COTA stewards

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