George Russell demands Mercedes answers after US GP 'missed opportunity'

23 October 2023 , 15:36

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George Russell was frustrated with his pace during Sunday's US GP (Image: Getty Images)

George Russell is seeking answers over his lack of pace in the middle stint at the United States Grand Prix which he thinks cost him a shot at the podium.

Russell crossed the line sixth, one place below where he started the race. He was later bumped up to fifth place, though it was hardly great news for his Mercedes team as it was because team-mate Lewis Hamilton had been disqualified.

Over the whole weekend, the younger of the two Brits was constantly on the back foot in comparison. While Hamilton was delighted with the instant impact of his car's upgrades, Russell was struggling to get the most out of them.

And his Grand Prix got off to a terrible start when he dropped three places on the opening lap. Despite climbing back up to what eventually turned out to be fifth place, the 25-year-old was annoyed after the race.

He was adamant that a spot on the podium was there for the taking and was left baffled by his middle tyre stint in particular. "Story of the season really, it feels, of missed opportunities," Russell told reporters.

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"On the back foot from the beginning, making a bad start. And then we put a hard tyre on and we had to manage the fuel, we had to manage the engine a little bit.

"We were about second off the pace and we put the medium back on and we were the quickest car on track. Closed in on Max by about 10 seconds and on Lewis by a couple of seconds. So standing here, I'm thinking it was definitely another missed opportunity and frustrating we weren't on the podium."

But Russell did balance that out with a more optimistic view about what he might be able to do with his newly-upgraded car in the final weeks of this season, based off his pace towards the end. "When I look at the pace today, I think that last stint was a really good example of what the potential was," he added.

"It's often fine margins. I was off the pace in qualifying and come Q3, the pace was there again. And then on the medium tyres in Sprint qualifying, I was ahead in SQ1 and SQ2 but then I didn't have a new tyre in SQ3, so it's just one of those where we were just on the back foot from the beginning.

"As I said, It just feels like the story of the year. I think last year, I don't think we ever missed an opportunity probably once in 22 races, whereas this year it feels like [in] 50 percent of the races we've been far from maximising the points."

Daniel Moxon