Russell says Mercedes’ extra fuel may have cost him Mexico pole

George Russell believes Mercedes’ choice to run a tyre-preparation lap may have cost him pole at the Mexico City Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton beat the Mercedes driver by 0.009 seconds, leaving Russell second on the front row.

Russell said Mercedes wanted the lap to bring the tyres up to temperature, while Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen skipped preparation laps on their final Q3 runs. Russell felt Mercedes could go straight into a timed lap too, but said the team’s plan left his car carrying fuel for an extra lap.

Looking back, Russell said the time cost of carrying that extra fuel was greater than his 0.009-second deficit; with one fewer lap’s worth of fuel, he thought he could have taken pole. He had not seen himself in the top-three fight before Q3, he said, but his final attempt came together.