George Russell admits that a collapsed front wing cost him lap time and made it “tricky to hold on” in front of his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton in the Mexico City GP.
Hamilton got ahead of Russell at the start, but Russell later repassed. However the wing was damaged when he hit a bump passing Oscar Piastri, and that left him vulnerable to attack from Hamilton.
Having stayed ahead for many laps Russell eventually had to cede what was by then fourth place.
“I made a really strong start, but you’re kind of at the mercy of where the drivers in front of you go,” he said when asked by formu1a.uno.
“And unfortunately, they all went to the right. Last year they went to my left, and I’d have been able to get the launch, but I kind of got a bit snowballed from not getting my slipstream.
“The pace looked pretty strong in the first stint, but when I came out the pits behind Piastri, I pulled out down the straight and my front left flap just completely collapsed. I hit this bump.
“So that probably cost me a good three or four-tenths for the remainder of the race. So it was tricky to hold on for 40 laps. P5, I probably would have taken that after Friday.”
Russell agreed that he’d enjoyed a fair fight with Hamilton, contrasting to the footage he’d seen of the Max Verstappen/Lando Norris battle up ahead.
“It was nice to have the battle,” he said. “It’s always good when you fight with Lewis, because it’s hard and fair. And at the moment, you see a number of manoeuvres that are just getting beyond entertaining, or beyond sort of sporting. It’s just almost unfair to a point now.”
GPDA director Russell said that discussions over racing guidelines with the FIA at the drivers’ briefing had been productive.
“I think the stewards are totally on board with what needs to change,” he said. “I think the biggest discussion is they wanted to wait until ’25 so it’s something consistent through this year.
“I would say 19 out of 20 drivers said, well, if it’s incorrect, make the change today. And I’m glad to see those incidents were punished today. And I suspect moving forward in Brazil, what we saw today and what we saw last week, you won’t be able to get away with.”
Regarding the time lag he added: “Sometimes seems more difficult when it has to be, when things have to get approved and they’ve got to go to a vote the SAC [sporting advisory committee] or whatever it is. But as I said, 19 out of 20, we’re all aligned with where it needs to be.”
