George Russell admitted his pace at the United States Grand Prix was “garbage”, with the Mercedes driver at a loss as to why he trailed fellow race winner Kimi Antonelli by such a wide margin.
Russell finished 54 seconds behind sister Mercedes in the 56-lap race in eighth place which just kept him in contention for the mathematical championship heading into this week’s race in Mexico, where Antonelli will take the crown.
Russell had held his sixth position on the grid during the first period of the race, but dropped to eighth after serving a five-second penalty at his only pit stop for an incident with Oscar Piastri on the opening lap, when he was deemed to have gained an advantage over McLaren by going off the track and holding the position.
Russell then spent the final 26 laps on the same tail as Piastre, but was unable to find a way back behind the Australian driver.
Russell said Sky Sports F1: “The beat was trash. That’s the long and short of it.
The five seconds (penalty) didn’t help matters and probably cost me two or three positions, but the pace wasn’t good enough when it needed to be.”
Russell made no excuses for his lack of competition and said he had no immediate answer as to why his weekend in Austin was so difficult.
“I just wasn’t fast enough,” he added.
“I have to try to understand why that is. It’s strange when you’re so far away.
“Hopefully there are some answers somewhere, but right now I don’t have them.”
What went wrong for Russell?
Antonelli’s win was his ninth of the year and represented what Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, believes was “the best race he has delivered so far”.
It was the first victory for the improved Mercedes car, which has taken time for the world championship leaders to get the best out of it since the aerodynamic revisions debuted at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at the start of October.
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Highlights from the 2026 United States Grand Prix.
However, the team has said that the changes have narrowed the optimal car configuration window.
At Russell’s weekend, Wolff said: “George struggled so much. And I believe that’s because the operating window of the car is very difficult.
“In Q2 he was there and close there. Q3, it didn’t work. He said, ‘this suits me.’
“And today in the race, I don’t know, we got behind Piastri, which seems a bit unfair because he didn’t pass. It’s the same engine, it’s the same charging and electric set-up. But I’ll see now.”
“He’s not 54 seconds slower over a race distance”
Analysis from Sky Sports F1’s Jenson Button:
“George has had a lot of tough races but also some great races and that’s the thing that’s really hard to understand – how he’s able to get the most out of that car at some tracks but not at others.
“Austin’s been tough since he started so far. He was in the pack and when you’re in the pack, sometimes it’s hard to move forward. You’re in dirty air. You try to do something different with the strategy, but then you get a five-second penalty that puts you back.
“I don’t believe his pace is that far off. He’s not 54 seconds slower over a race distance.”
Future Formula 1 heads south for the second leg of America’s triple header with the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
