GEORGE RUSSELL begged for a red flag immediately after his 100mph crash at the Australian Grand Prix.
The British star, 26, was involved in a frightening smash between turns six and seven as he battled with Fernando Alonso.
Russell’s Mercedes was left balancing on its side after hitting the barriers with force.
With his car in the middle of the track, the Silver Arrows star was desperate for proceedings to be halted so that he wouldn’t be hit.
Straight after coming to a stop, Russell worriedly bellowed down his team radio: “Red flag, red flag, I’m in the middle of the track, red flag, red flag. Red, red, red, red, red.
“I’m in the middle. Red. F***. Why so long?”
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He then thankfully added: “I’m okay, I am in the middle of the track half upside down.
“I just completely lost it, sorry guys.”
The race subsequently finished behind a virtual safety car.
In the media pen after the fact, Russell explained: “I really don’t know what happened, to be honest.
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“I was half a second behind Fernando on the entry of the corner and then suddenly, before the apex, I was right on his gearbox and lost the car, ran wide.
“Unfortunately the wall was… well, I ran wide, hit the wall and then it was obviously a dramatic few seconds after that.
“It’s a disappointing end to a difficult race.”
Alonso, 42, initially finished sixth in the race.
But he was subsequently slapped with a 20-second time penalty, dropping him to eighth.
Russell’s Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was also forced to retire from the race, after suffering an engine failure during lap 18.
After the race, Hamilton said: “This is the worst start to a season. It’s worse than 2009 I think.”
Following Mercedes’ double-DNF, team principal Toto Wolff added: “Tough to take, super tough.
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“I would be lying if I said at any moment I felt positive about the situation and optimistic.
“You just need to overcome the negative thoughts and say, ‘we will turn this around’. Today it feels very, very brutal.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
