George Russell released from Medical Centre following 30G Mexico GP crash

Thomas Maher
George Russell, Mercedes, 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.

George Russell was taken to the Medical Centre following a big crash at the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix.

Mercedes’ George Russell suffered a big crash during second practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix after losing control of his W15.

The British driver lost control of his Mercedes W15 at high speed while negotiating the esses in the second sector at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

George Russell suffers hefty impact in Mexico

Less than 15 minutes into the second practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, Russell was negotiating his way through the high-speed sweeps that make up most of the second sector of the circuit.

With the session given over to a Pirelli tyre test, Russell was embarking on a C4 performance run as defined by the tyre manufacturer when he took too much kerb through the right-hand Turn 8.

This unsettled his Mercedes to the point where he lost control of the rear entirely and spun around 270 degrees before hitting the TecPro barriers sideways in what was a nasty sudden stop – Russell was unfortunate to go off at a point where he hit the barriers with just a layer or two fitted in front of the concrete wall, such was the unusual positioning of his off.

Russell was able to gingerly climb out of the cockpit of the W15 but was in clear discomfort as he was shown holding his ribs and he was guided to the Medical Car while limping – he was brought straight to the Medical Centre at the circuit.

It was the second big accident Russell has had in the last week, with the British driver having crashed out of Q3 at the United States Grand Prix as both he and teammate Lewis Hamilton struggled with the handling of their cars at the Austin circuit.

Mercedes confirmed Russell’s attendance at the Medical Centre and explained that Russell suffered an impact in excess of 30G – he was released from the Medical Centre after being checked over and is “physically okay” according to a team’s spokesperson.

Speaking to media after returning to the paddock, Russell explained the crash from his perspective.

“What happened is the car just started bouncing on the ground, and, before I even had a chance to catch it, it was already spinning,” he said.

“So yeah, a lot of work for the guys tonight, again. It just seems like it’s one thing after another at the moment.

“It’s frustrating as FP1, we were really strong, really fast, and tried taking the same line cutting that corner and, for whatever reason on this occasion in FP2, the thing just started going on me.”

With second practice having been a dedicated tyre testing session, Russell said there were worse sessions for the incident to have happened in as relevant running for competitiveness in the Mexico City Grand Prix was limited.

“FP2, because it was the Pirelli tyre test, wasn’t hugely valuable in terms of what you’d learn going into the race weekend,” he said.

“I obviously missed out on laps and FP3 is going to be important. I just hope we can get the car fixed.”

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In the unlikely off-chance Russell suffers any after-effects and proves unable to take any further part in this weekend’s action, Mercedes can call upon reserve driver Kimi Antonelli – the Italian driver took part in FP1 as part of the rookie running, and is already confirmed as the team’s successor for Lewis Hamilton next season.

The Pirelli tyre test underway in the session was heavily compromised by the crash, due to the timer continuing under the lengthy red flag stoppage.

The intention of the extended 90-minute session was to run performance and long runs of the current specification Pirelli compounds as a baseline against the prototype 2025 compounds, with 30 minutes also given over to the usual race drivers who sat out FP1 as the teams handed track time to junior drivers as the regulations require throughout the year.

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