The team principal of Mercedes, Toto Wolff, has acknowledged that they ‘left George Russell behind’ during the Mexican Grand Prix. The British driver’s race was affected by a technical issue that frustrated his aspirations for victory. Russell started from the front row, alongside his teammate Lewis Hamilton, and his start was promising, but he soon found himself in a setback.
After a good start, Russell suffered an energy problem that caused him to drop quickly to sixth place upon reaching the first corner. Later, he tried to overtake Isack Hadjar, but could not avoid a collision that resulted in a spin for the Red Bull and cost him a 10-second penalty.
The situation worsened for Russell with the wave of the stoppage for the serious accident of Valtteri Bottas, which caused him, despite the penalty, to lose positions again and end up unable to advance during the second half of the race. After the race, Russell congratulated his teammate Kimi Antonelli on the world title, but did not provide further explanations, as the team excused his absence from the press conference, which resulted in a €5,000 fine from the FIA.
Wolff expressed concern for Russell’s emotional state after the race. ‘It was a catastrophic moment for him,’ he said, adding that the driver had shown great sportsmanship in congratulating his teammate. The Mexican race has been a reflection of his season, marked by several setbacks and a lack of luck at key moments.
Russell had previously experienced similar issues, including an incident at Spa-Francorchamps, where an energy problem caused him to collide with Hamilton, as well as power unit failures that resulted in retirements in Canada and Malaysia.
With this result, Russell finds himself fourth in the drivers’ championship with 250 points, 11 and 9 points behind Verstappen and Hamilton, respectively, and continues to seek his best final standing in his career. In a recent message on Instagram, Russell shared his feelings about the season, describing it as the first in which he has had more bad days than good. Nevertheless, he expressed his determination to regain the form and competitiveness he has shown on several occasions during his career.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
