George Russell admits Mercedes got it ‘very wrong’ in Austin after Lewis Hamilton DSQ

Accepting Mercedes got it “very wrong” in Austin when Lewis Hamilton was disqualified after failing a post-race inspection, George Russell has revealed Mercedes’ planks looked “absolutely fine” after the weekend’s only practice hour.

Hamilton crossed the line in second place at the United States Grand Prix, the Briton a mere 2.2s behind race winner Max Verstappen in what was his most competitive race of this season.

However, hours later he was disqualified when his W14 failed a floor and plank inspection with the latter found to be less than the mandated minimum thickness.

George Russell reveals there was no wear on the plank after FP1

It was a huge blow for the Briton in the championship as instead of closing the gap to Sergio Perez in the fight for P2, it grew to 39 points.

Russell admits Mercedes were led astray by the lack of wear on the plank after Friday’s first and only practice session on what was a Sprint weekend.

“Obviously, with the one session in Austin, we did all of the standard checks after FP1 and the plank looked absolutely fine,” he said. “So there was no reason after the practice session to make any changes, but obviously we got that very wrong.”

He is not expecting a repeat at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix where it’s a lot less bumpy than at the Circuit of the Americas.

“I think it’s a very different layout here. I expect the nature of this circuit to be naturally more conservative and with the three practice sessions, I don’t foresee any issues there.”

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George Russell: Clear performance gained from new floor

Despite the team losing a podium finish, Mercedes were nonetheless happy with the performance gains from their new floor that they debuted in Austin.

Although Russell wasn’t able to match his team-mate’s pace, undone by a fuel issue, he was later elevated to fifth with Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s disqualifications and therefore brought in a solid points haul.

“Yeah, definitely the upgrades were performing really well and I think that was clear with the performance,” he said.

“We had some limitations on my side. I had not enough fuel and was having to manage the fuel for half of the race. That really put me on the back foot but the last stint, we just went for it and the pace was probably the strongest out there which definitely bodes well for the end of the season.”

He’s hoping to show that pace at this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.

“The car was performing really well last year on paper,” he added. “I’d say this circuit suits us better than the likes of Austin and Qatar and Japan, on which we were still pretty competitive too so I wouldn’t say we have high hopes here but I think it should suit a slightly better.

“Bit of an unknown going to the C5 compound this year compared to the C4 last year but we’re feeling optimistic going into these two races.”

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