George Russell vents after Kimi Antonelli’s victory: “I can’t find any answers”

While Kimi Antonelli is racing toward the world title thanks to yet another victory in Texas, there is concern in the Mercedes pit about George Russell, who finished in eighth place, nearly a minute behind his teammate. For the first time, the British driver seemed genuinely discouraged by the situation, and after the race, during the customary post-race interviews, he was visibly shaken as he spoke to Sky: “I mean, our pace today was really terrible. And that pretty much sums it up.”

“The five-second penalty certainly didn’t help and probably cost me two or three positions. But, regardless of that, the pace wasn’t up to par when it mattered most,” the Englishman continued.

Unlike Antonelli, Russell wasn’t able to adapt to the W17 as he’d have liked: “To be honest, we just weren’t fast enough. I need to figure out why. It’s strange to find ourselves so far off the pace; I hope to find an answer somewhere, but right now I don’t have one.”

“The pace wasn’t good during the first stint, but then after the pit stop, for six laps, I matched Kimi’s pace. But then I found myself behind Oscar and couldn’t pass him. So, six good laps and 50 terrible ones. I want to figure out why the pace in the first stint was so bad.”

Now Russell’s goal is to defend second place and win the constructors’ championship: “Finishing second, third, or fifth isn’t a championship, so it doesn’t really matter that much to me. For me, the most important thing is the constructors’ championship.”