Russell says he will not dwell on VSC timing after Singapore P9

George Russell said the virtual safety car in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix ended just as he reached the pits, removing the benefit of stopping under neutralisation. He had just passed pit entry when the VSC was deployed for Lance Stroll's stopped Aston Martin and had to complete the lap at reduced speed before pitting, RacingNews365 reported.

Russell started 19th after a grid penalty for fresh engine components and had climbed to seventh by lap 40 on the medium tyre. He emerged from his stop in 10th behind Liam Lawson, Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly; he passed Gasly but not Hülkenberg, and finished ninth.

Russell said an extra 10, 15 or 20 seconds could have helped, while adding that it was always going to be difficult coming from the back. “I am not going to lose sleep over that,” he said. Russell scored two points; Kimi Antonelli's third place and 15 points left him 102 points ahead of his team-mate.

This is a reported race-result story centred on the specific VSC and pit-entry sequence, not merely Russell's already-covered ninth-place finish. Keep the possible benefit of a longer VSC conditional and attributed; do not claim he would have finished higher.