George Russell had a poor start to the 2022 F1 United States GP. The Mercedes driver locked up going into the first corner and bumped into Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. The Spaniard spun out and retired from the race after suffering irreparable damage to his car.
Sainz started from pole, but a poor start dropped him to second going into the first corner. He had the racing line going into the corner but Russell, hoping to conquer the apex, braked late and bumped the Ferrari, thus causing the accident.
Fans reacted to the incident on Twitter, blaming the Mercedes driver for taking out the polesitter and ruining Ferrari’s race. Some of the best tweets were:
“ARREST GEORGE RUSSELL” “george russell should be put back into karting”
george russell should be put back into karting
george russell should be put back into karting “George “The Harpoon” Russell.” George “The Harpoon” Russell. #F1George “The Harpoon” Russell. #F1 “George Russell & Kylian Mbappe are the same person in different sports. Both have all the talent but such a big ego it’s unbelievable” George Russell & Kylian Mbappe are the same person in different sports
Both have all the talent but such a big ego it’s unbelievable
George Russell & Kylian Mbappe are the same person in different sportsBoth have all the talent but such a big ego it’s unbelievable “george russell u better be so apologetic post race” george russell u better be so apologetic post race 
” George Russell might actually be a terrorist”
George russell might actually be a terrorist
George russell might actually be a terrorist “George “i left enough space” Russell” “Russell playing bumper cars as usual” “George Russell taking out drivers every other weekend”
George Russell taking out drivers every other weekend
George Russell taking out drivers every other weekend https://t.co/w9AdlLMRAp
Russell received a five-second time penalty for causing the accident. The Briton served it when he entered the pits to change tires.
Carlos Sainz’s disappointing end to an amazing weekend
Carlos Sainz will be disappointed with how his weekend turned out after an amazing performance on Saturday. The Spaniard blitzed to pole position, beating Max Verstappen and the pair of Mercedes drivers. He had previously started on pole this season at Silverstone and Spa, winning the British Grand Prix.
However, it was at the end of another weekend where Ferrari could have scored some great points but external factors prevented them from doing so. Ferrari will also need to outscore Red Bull by 19 points to stay in the constructors championship, but that seems very unlikely at this stage of the race.
Verstappen looks set to win his thirteenth of the season and tie the record for most wins in a single season. Carlos Sainz will be looking for redemption next week in Mexico. Ferrari will be targeting a win there and will look to finish second in the constructors championship, ahead of Mercedes.
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Edited by Nicolaas Ackermann
