In the round-up: Carlos Sainz Jnr says he appreciated George Russell apologising to him after the Mercedes driver pitched him into a spin in COTA which ultimately lead to him retiring from the United States Grand Prix.
In brief
Sainz accepts Russell’s apology for COTA start clash
Sainz revealed Russell sought him out after the Sunday’s United States Grand Prix to apologise for their first-corner collision.
“It’s the kind of incident you expect more to see in the midfield, when you have so many cars around you,” said Sainz. “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.”
Russell was given a five-second time penalty from the stewards, who held him responsible for the accident. Sainz said “the FIA maybe was a bit easy on him for for the consequences that happened.”
However, he added, “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.”
Alfa Romeo’s single lap pace proves upgrades work – Zhou
Zhou Guanyu says Alfa Romeo’s improved single-lap pace in recent rounds shows that their recent upgrades have worked.
The team have only scored one point over the last ten races and Aston Martin have closed to within one point of them in the first for sixth place in the constructors’ championship. But after the team introduced new upgrades at Suzuka, Zhou’s team mate Valtteri Bottas reached Q3 last weekend in Austin, Zhou missing out only due to a late deleted lap time.
“Now finally, we were actually able to reach both cars in Q3, but my lap obviously got deleted,” said Zhou. “I always knew it would be a difficult race and somehow I finished P11 after finishing 13th.”
The team “have to maybe work a little bit more on the race pace,” he believes. “What was quite clear is that on one-lap performance we made a huge step up compared to the last few races, so clearly the upgrade package is working.”
Magnussen would have “no problem” racing alongside Hulkenberg
Kevin Magnussen says there would be “no problem” racing alongside Nico Hulkenberg, who he infamously fell out with after clashing in the media pen after the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Despite their argument, Magnussen insists the…
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