Photo via The Race

The brutal Mercedes contrasts behind Russell's 'rubbish' pace

George Russell admitted his pace at the United States Grand Prix was “rubbish”, finishing eighth and trailing race winner Kimi Antonelli by 54 seconds. A five‑second penalty dropped him further, leaving him stuck behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for much of the second half of the race.

Russell said his opening stint was unusually slow, even when compared with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, and he was about eight‑tenths of a lap off Antonelli’s average speed. He described the race as “six good laps, 50 bad laps” and noted that Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc managed to pass him before he pitted.

After switching to hard tyres he briefly matched Antonelli’s pace but could not overtake Piastri, limiting any chance of recovery.

The penalty and the difficulty in passing Piastri cost Russell two or three positions, according to his own assessment, and he said he needs 24 hours to analyse the poor performance. Antonelli’s victory highlighted the Mercedes car’s peak capability, while Russell’s struggle suggested a narrow balance window may be affecting his performance.

Up nextFormula 1· 1h ago

Fernando Alonso’s scathing F1 driver criticism branded “exaggerated”