SINGAPORE -- George Russell crashed out of the lead of the sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix as his slim championship chances took another brutal blow.
After a rain shower delayed the start by 30 minutes, Russell got the jump on Max Verstappen off the wet grid down to Turn 1.
As he finished the first lap, his wheel dipped onto the white line on the edge of the kerb and he spun into the inside wall.
The Mercedes car fortunately was not collected by any of the chasing pack as he rolled back to the other side of the race track.
The Safety Car was immediately sent out.
Russell was apologetic over the team radio and said: "S---. Sorry." When asked by his race engineer if he was OK, Russell added: "Ah. I'm fine. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry."
The incident saw the British driver squander an opportunity to take some points out of teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who was in seventh when Russell crashed.
Russell is set to start Sunday's race from the back of the grid due to a penalty for changing his engine after it failed at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia last weekend.