No podium for George Russell in Mexico but DHL Fastest Lap goes to him as consolation prize

Mercedes driver George Russell had an action-packed race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Starting fourth, he had his sights set on the podium only to be overtaken by Max Verstappen on the approach to Turn 1. Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli then overtook British driver Russell on lap 6 after he was forced to run wide in Turn 5 while trying to stay clear of the scrap between Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in front of him.

As a result, Russell was only running seventh, but then, mainly thanks to team orders, he found himself back in pursuit of Bearman on lap 42 and a possible podium finish in Mexico. Mercedes responded to Oscar Piastri’s stop on lap 50 by bringing their man Russell into the pits in a move that proved successful. Russell was able to rejoin the track ahead of Piastri and immediately set the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:20.052 minutes.

At this point, he was 1.112 seconds behind Bearman and 3.5 seconds ahead of Piastri. As the race progressed, though, it became clear that any hopes of a podium finish for Russell were too optimistic, as, firstly, Piastri was faster in the McLaren, and secondly, he had to give back the position to teammate Kimi Antonelli that his team had told him to take so that he could mount an attack on Bearman.

“That was a frustrating afternoon,” said Russell, who finished seventh in the end. “At the start, three drivers cut over the grass at turn one and either kept or gained positions without penalty. I stayed on the track but lost out, unfortunately. That also happened when Lewis and Max were battling; I had to take avoiding action, go off track, and lost several positions myself. From there, it was difficult being stuck in a train of cars. We inverted the cars to try and maximize the team result but ultimately we just didn’t have the pace to fight our way forward.”