George Russell has revealed that overheating brakes were responsible for the tyre woes that saw him struggle during the closing stages of the Mexico Grand Prix.

Russell profited from Sergio Perez’s first-lap retirement to move up from eighth before a red flag stoppage on Lap 33 due to Kevin Magnussen’s crash also advantaged him.

The Briton utilised running Medium tyres at the restart to propel past Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo into fifth and was then heavily pressuring Carlos Sainz ahead.

However, Russell was unable to overtake the Ferrari, prompting him to be required to back off to cool his brakes which inadvertently saw him lose vital tyre temperature.

The Mercedes driver was powerless to defend against the recovering Lando Norris and only narrowly resisted the threat posed by Daniel Ricciardo to retain sixth at the end.

Reflecting on his race, Russell, who eventually classified 27s behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton in second place, said: “It was just a race dictated by tyres once again. The car felt really strong, right behind Carlos, I just couldn’t quite make the overtake.

“We had to back off as my brakes were overheating, as they were for many drivers. As soon as I backed off, I totally lost all the temperature in my tyres, I could never recover it. It was like driving on ice for the last 15 laps. A really miserable feeling and very lucky to finish P6.”

Russell concedes his issue meant he didn’t enjoy his battle with Norris, who perfectly lined up a move into Turn 4 to execute a switchback move on the exit of Turn 5.

“It’s never fun when you’re on the defending driver on the back foot, again, just really struggled throughout that race with the tyres, it was pretty clear, as soon as I backed off, I lost all the grip and I couldn’t recover,” he explained.

“Not too concerned, because I know the reason for it. It’s been two race weekends in a row for two different reasons, last week for fuel and I lost the tyres because I backed off to manage the fuel, this weekend it was the brakes. That’s at least some clarity.”

Russell managed to marginally keep Ricciardo at bay on the final lap, but the ex-Williams racer admits the Australian would have been past him with one more lap.

Asked if he was expecting the AlphaTauri to overtake him, Russell replied: “No, but for sure one more lap he would have done. He’s had a really great weekend, really happy to see him performing well. Deserves it.”

While Hamilton has maximised the improvements provided by Mercedes’ recent floor upgrade in Austin to score successive second places, Russell has lagged considerably behind his team-mate.

Russell is hoping that the next round in Brazil this weekend won’t be overshadowed by the same problems many drivers encountered with the operating range of the Pirelli tyres.

“We were strong here last year, qualified on the front row. Probably should have had two cars on the podium last year,” Russell acknowledged. “So, it’s definitely performing well, but this weekend has been a weekend about tyres as it has been for everyone.

“Yesterday was a total surprise for many teams, for good or bad. I’m hoping Brazil won’t be that sensitive,” last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix winner concluded.

Lewis Hamilton admits that he tried to chase down Max Verstappen at one stage during the Mexico City Grand Prix but relented once he realised the Red Bull was “cruising”.

Starting sixth, Hamilton immediately gained a position after Sergio Perez clashed with Charles Leclerc at the first turn before displacing Daniel Ricciardo on Lap 11.

Having latched onto the back of Carlos Sainz, Hamilton successfully undercut the Ferrari prior to the race being stopped on Lap 33 due to Kevin Magnussen’s Turn 9 crash.

The Briton took advantage of running the Medium tyre for the remainder to overhaul Charles Leclerc shortly after the restart to cement his finishing position of second.

Reflecting on his charge to the podium, Hamilton said: “Yeah, great day. I was not expecting to be up here with these guys.

“Difficult weekend, it started out, but yeah, I just kept my nose clean at the beginning of the race and then just really trying to manage the tyres and maximise and progress forwards.

“And when I noticed that I had the pace on Carlos, I knew that with the undercut, it really worked quite well. So, the team did a great job I think with strategy.

“And then of course the red flag probably played into our hands in terms of getting onto the fresher tyre at the end. But I just I didn’t know if whether or not the Medium would make it that long.

“I was trying to see if I could close the gap to Max but he was long gone and I could only just about equal his times. But great result for the team, really proud of everyone.”

Despite running a softer compound of tyre and being situated on the clean side of the grid, Hamilton was unable to get by Leclerc on the run down to Turn 1 on the restart.

After remaining in close proximity to the Ferrari for several laps, Hamilton utilised the slipstream and DRS to slip up the inside of Leclerc into the first corner on Lap 40.

Hamilton asserts that he virtually “pressed every button on the steering wheel” in order to mitigate the substantial time loss Mercedes was spurning on the straights.

“Yeah, honestly, this weekend, we’ve been very, very slow on the straight,” he explained. “In general, we’ve were quite draggy on the straights more often than not but this weekend, you know, like yesterday, we were losing like two-and-a-half tenths just into Turn 1 before we even start braking.

“So, these guys were very slippery on the straights so, trying to follow closely through Turns 16 and 17 was, was really the only way that I could get close enough and have an opportunity to make the DRS impactful.

“And finally, I pressed every button on the steering wheel, maximum power. And I didn’t know how far across he was going to go. But split second decision, I decided to go to the right. There’s just enough space there but Charles was really fair. But yeah, great racing.”

Hamilton revealed that using “sweet finesse” was the key to him preserving his Medium tyres to the end to maintaining the advantage he had built up over Leclerc.

The seven-time World Champion disclosed that he did push on in an attempt to reduce the deficit to Verstappen, but he swiftly figured the Dutchman was coasting.

Asked if his successful attempt at the fastest lap on the final tour suggested he could have extracted more from the last stint, Hamilton said: “Yeah, for sure. I could have pushed a little bit harder but I did at one time try to see, okay, I think I’ve saved enough, let me see if I can try and close this gap to Max.

“I think it was like 10 laps to go, and I did a 22.0 and Max did a 21.9. I was like, ah, I’ll leave it. He was just cruising at 21.9. So yeah, so I thought I’d leave it there.

“And also, I had to be cautious, just careful because obviously my tyres… if I really pushed them for the last 10 laps, they probably would have opened up, and who knows, maybe Charles would have caught me up. So, I just had to be cautious with that.”

George Russell believes the inconsistency that plagued Mercedes throughout Saturday’s running at the Mexico City Grand Prix was related to the tyres.

Mercedes enjoyed its strongest showing of the season in the United States last time out as Lewis Hamilton came within 2.2s of taking the victory prior to being excluded.

The German marque had been boosted by the addition of a revised floor in Austin, which again placed the team in competitive shape ahead of qualifying in Mexico.

While Hamilton topped the times in Q2, Mercedes were unable to provide a challenge to either Ferrari or Red Bull for pole position on either run in the final segment.

Both cars ended up behind Daniel Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri, with Hamilton winding up sixth, 0.288s away from Charles Leclerc’s pole time, with Russell eighth, 0.5s down.

Russell bemoaned Mercedes being caught on the wrong side of optimising the tyres when it counted but accepted that other teams also suffered with the same issue.

“In FP3 we were the quickest at points and showed really strong pace. But now in Q1 we had no grip, off the pace. Q2 the car felt back to normal and we were quick. Went out in Q3 and the same happened again.

“I think for every team [it was a similar story]. Daniel [Ricciardo] was the only driver today who was the most consistent. The Ferraris were off the pace at points and then obviously P1 and P2. Alex [Albon] was quickest at points, should have been in Q3 but wasn’t. It’s frustrating.”

Leclerc credited Ferrari’s unexpected eight-tenth turnaround from Q2 to Q3 to having the tyres prepared with a better warm-up lap.

Russell explains that stepping over the limit of the rubber’s ideal working window resulted in a sudden drop in performance at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

“It’s just how the tyre interacts with the out lap, the temperature dropping,” he expanded. “You’re always trying to find that extra bit of performance but for whatever reason, there seemed to be a sudden drop when you’re a small margin over that limit.

“As I said, everybody either just found that limit and got massive performance, or they were over that limit and had no performance. It is a bit frustrating when it’s like this, but we need to recognise we didn’t get it right.”

Russell asserts that Mercedes’ initial predictions after practice predicted the team would have the race pace to challenge for the podium in Sunday’s 71-lap grand prix.

But the Briton acknowledges that the problems encountered with cooling in Mexico mean its qualifying setback has already compromised its race-day prospects.

“FP3 we thought we were fighting for the front two rows in qualifying and probably had a race car that was quick enough to fight for the podium,” he revealed.

“Starting P8 and P6 for Lewis and I, we are going to have a really challenging day tomorrow. It’s a shame.

“It’s always challenging here, everybody’s fighting brake temperatures, engine temperatures and as soon as you’re trying to overtake and fight a car, you can’t because you’ve reached those limits.

“It’s the nature of the beast and we just need to accept we got it wrong today. It’s really compromised our whole weekend.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff would accept a repeat of the events that led to Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification in the United States over lacking the pace to win races.

Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were disqualified after post-race checks discovered their two cars didn’t comply with the regulations governing plank wear.

Despite concerns throughout the weekend regarding the notorious bumps at the Circuit of the Americas, the FIA elected to retain its standard protocol of checking four cars.

Therefore, the other 13 classified runners at the chequered flag avoided potential punishment, including the respective team-mates of both Hamilton and Leclerc.

Hamilton revealed on Thursday in Mexico that he was told by “several sources” that other cars’ planks would have been deemed “illegal” if they had been investigated.

“That’s the feedback we got from the other teams,” Wolff echoed to Sky Sports F1. “Obviously they’re chatting with each other, the drivers, and also on a management level.

“I think many many teams were probably under the nine mil[limetres].”

Max Verstappen attributed rival teams falling foul of the rulebook to the Sprint format only allocating one practice hour before the drivers are locked into their chosen set-ups.

Wolff has agreed with Verstappen, admitting that, like Ferrari, Mercedes was convinced it had sacrificed enough margin with the ride height of its W14 car to avoid problems.

“The problem with the Sprint races is the car goes into parc ferme and you can’t adjust it any more,” Wolff argued. “We thought on Saturday that it could be on the limit but probably with a little bit of a margin.

“But we had a new floor, we got more downforce. Probably also in the Sprint race we didn’t run as much non-DRS laps which smashed the floor more so it was the stars were not aligned.”

Mercedes unveiled a revised floor in Austin, which Hamilton described as the first upgrade “he’s felt over the last two years.”

Wolff admits the upgrade “played an element” in Hamilton’s disqualification, before adding “we got more downforce, which is the positive, and you’re smashing the car on the bumps a little bit more.”

But the Austrian chief is confident that the issue won’t provide another discussion point across the remaining four rounds this year.

“It was absolutely specific [to Austin] and also because of the Sprint race weekend so we were more cautious now we have the data and we probably can adjust a little bit.”

Wolff insists he would prioritise experiencing a similar situation but having the pace to challenge for victories rather than lagging behind and remaining within the rules.

Hamilton matched his best result of the season to date, coming within 2.2s of usurping Verstappen’s Red Bull following a spirited charge in the closing laps.

“I would take the same thing [again] and I would also take the disqualification because we got it wrong,” he concluded.

“I take a disqualification running for a race win and seeing the performance against running P3 and ending up 25 seconds adrift. So every day of the week, I’ll go through the disqualification,” he concluded.

Lewis Hamilton described his Mercedes Formula 1 car as “night and day different compared to last week” after enduring a tough Friday at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Last time out at the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton came to within 2.2s of eclipsing Max Verstappen for the win prior to being disqualified for a technical infringement.

The Briton was buoyed by the improvement of Mercedes’ revised floor in Austin, insisting it was “one of the first upgrades that I’ve actually felt over the last two years.”

Before the on-track running commenced, Hamilton pinpointed Mexico as one of Mercedes’ two “best chances” of taking a victory in the remaining four rounds.

However, he ended up outside the top 10 in the opening practice session before only progressing up to seventh in FP2, 0.338s away from the pace set by Verstappen.

When asked about his Friday, Hamilton ruefully said: “Not that great. Yeah, dodgy – not dodgy, but like just not the greatest. Bit of a struggle in the car today.

“The car is night and day different compared to last week. I don’t really know what really to say. 

“You just never know what you’re going to get with this one. Some days, she’s great, and some days, she’s not. It’s hard to extract the lap.”

But with Mercedes traditionally capable of making a sizeable step overnight, Hamilton is optimistic that the team can turn it around to compete at the sharp end in qualifying.

“I think there is definitely performance there,” he continued. “It’s just trying to extract it, and it’s quite peaky this weekend, maybe just with the aero map or whatever it may be. So we’re going to work on it overnight.

“But definitely it wasn’t a fun day compared to FP1 in Austin. And, yeah, we’re a bit off, but hopefully overnight, we can find something and tomorrow, maybe the car will be nicer to drive.”

Pressed on the potential of the car for the weekend, Hamilton concluded: “[I’m] Not sure. Again, you just never know what to expect with this car. And maybe we’ll make the changes, and we’ll pick that pace up.

“I think there was definitely some performance in there to be closer, and maybe in the top three. 

“But we’ve got to figure out how to make it easier for us to be able to extract that performance. So that’s what we’ll work on tonight.”

Meanwhile, Mercedes team-mate George Russell stepped aside in FP1 to allow the side to complete one of its two rookie practice commitments for the season.

Russell completed top 10 in his only session on Friday but believes that a multitude of factors throughout the day skewed the overall picture of the pecking order.

“It was a bit of a tricky session, there was rain around here and there, we had the prototype Pirelli tyre, and it’s a very tight field out there,” Russell highlighted.

The ex-Williams racer has echoed Hamilton’s thoughts regarding the scope of progress available for Mercedes to make to be in better shape across the rest of the weekend.

“But I think there is potential, I think we’ve got a lot of work to do overnight, it’s very tight,” Russell acknowledged.

“Especially with some unexpected cars, you saw some cars in the top 10 that we weren’t expecting to be there, but we feel like we’ve got a lot to improve. But we also feel like we’ve got the opportunity to do it as well.”

Russell reveals that the two cars were running alternative setups in second practice, which he hopes will pay dividends as the team bids to optimise its W14.

“I think we’ve been probably in the wrong window today,” he admitted. “Lewis and I were running two different setups, and we probably both weren’t in the right window, so that’s given us an indication that probably halfway between both is the right place to be.

“It’s frustrating in the moment to have a sort of negative car, and not have had the best of days. But through those difficult moments you learn probably more than when the car is in a better place. So I guess that’s what practice is all about.”

Expanding on Mercedes’ hopes for Saturday, Russell said: “Of course, we want to be fighting for pole position, Max always is half a step ahead, but I think I think anybody if you get it right can be fighting for the front two rows. We need to make sure that’s us.”

Lewis Hamilton believes that the next two races represent Mercedes’ “best chance” of securing a victory out of the remaining four rounds in the 2023 Formula 1 season.

Last time out at the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton mounted a late charge to fall 2.2s short of overhauling Max Verstappen for the victory, settling for second on the road.

Mercedes’ prospects in Austin were bolstered by the addition of an upgraded floor, which Hamilton described as “one of the first he’s felt over the last two years.”

Hamilton later explained that the update instilled more confidence in him to push the W14, enhancing the potential one-tenth gain the team had only originally anticipated.

“Firstly, being able to feel the upgrade is one thing,” he began. “That’s always what you’d hope they’d do but with just the way our car has been the past year, you’d add some things and not be able to feel it.

“So, rear end is the area I’ve always wanted improvements. Particularly because the lack of rear end gives a lack of confidence when attacking the corners. So the step we took there gave me the confidence to send it more and I need more!

“It was a great feeling from lap one and I think because of that, if it was a tenth upgrade I probably got two-tenths out of it through that extra confidence I was able to carry throughout the race.”

Post-race, Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were disqualified after checks discovered their cars failed to comply with the regulations governing plank wear.

Hamilton has insisted that Mercedes’ car being deemed illegal did not aid its performance, adding that it doesn’t take away from the progress the team has made.

Asked how close he thinks Mercedes is to seizing a win, Hamilton replied: “We are very close, I could almost taste it at the last one.

“Honestly, if we got the strategy right at the last one I would have been a lot closer to having the win, if not having the win. But it doesn’t matter anyway as we would have been thrown out.”

Amid Mercedes’ struggles throughout this regulation cycle, Hamilton has failed to add to his record-breaking F1 win tally since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in December 2021.

The 103-time grand prix victor asserts that Mercedes must avoid beginning next year on the backfoot in order to battle World Champions Red Bull from the outset.

“I can’t recall how much I miss it [winning],” Hamilton admitted.

“It’s been a couple of years and I enjoy the process and the journey I have been on with my team in terms of trying to get the car back to where we need to be.

“Naturally, at the end of the season you are going to get a bit closer if they are standing still and not developing. It’s inevitable we were going to catch them at some point, but the key is to make sure we are not 1.5 seconds slower than them at the first race of next year.”

Mercedes provided a respectable challenge to Max Verstappen in Mexico last year before securing a 1-2 finish at the penultimate round of the season in Brazil.

Hamilton believes those two events are likely to again provide the Brackley-based squad with its greatest opportunity to ensure it avoids ending this season without a win.

“It’s always difficult to say it’s going to be good here or there, but we have definitely taken a step forwards and over these next four races, I can’t predict which one, we are going to be closer,” he summarised.

“I think we were close here [Mexico] last year, so hopefully we will be a little bit closer this weekend. If we really get the strategy weekend, then maybe we can really take the fight to them.

“Brazil was a really great circuit for us last year, and if it turns out we are closer again there that is two much stronger races for us. Then when we go to Abu Dhabi the gap will open up again, so it’s these next two where I think we will have our best chance.”

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that “several sources” informed him that other Formula 1 cars had planks that would have been deemed “illegal” but “weren’t tested” after the United States Grand Prix.

Hamilton matched his best result of the entire season with second place at the Circuit of the Americas, coming within 2.2s of beating Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

However, both Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc were qualified after post-race checks discovered that the planks on their cars failed to comply with the regulations.

Reviewing the debacle for the first time ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, the Briton concedes that he was “devastated” to be told that he had lost his runners-up finish.

“I had just come out of the press conference. I got back and was about to get into the ice tub when Toto [Wolff] came down and told me,” Hamilton explained.

“Obviously devastated after such a good day and a great race. I didn’t find out fully until I was back home [in Austin]. A bit deflated but still lots of positives to take from it.”

Despite the drivers complaining about the bumps at COTA throughout the weekend, the FIA proceeded to retain its protocol of only measuring the planks of four select cars.

While the cars of Lando Norris and Verstappen were judged to be legal, the Ferrari of Leclerc and Hamilton’s Mercedes were both referred to the stewards, eventually resulting in their disqualification.

Hamilton, however, insists that more cars would have failed the test and has called for a “better structure” to be implemented to ensure other drivers can’t “get away with it”.

“Firstly I’ve heard from several different sources that there were a lot of other cars that were also illegal and weren’t tested, so they get away with it,” he issued.

“I’ve been racing here for 16 years and there’s been times that there’s been many other scenarios like this. Some people have gotten away with some things, and some people have just been unlucky they got tested.

“Ultimately, there needs to be some better structure to make sure it’s fair and even across the board.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted that the complications provided by the Sprint format allocating only one practice session contributed to Hamilton’s disqualification.

Hamilton believes that the rule restricting drivers to only 60 minutes of on-track running before mandating them to lock in set-ups for the weekend should be scrapped.

“We’ve never had that problem in Austin before,” Hamilton addressed. “It’s just that we had a Sprint race before.”

“An easy fix for that one,[would be to] just approach the weekend differently where the car is not set from Friday morning, especially at the bumpiest track we have been to. That’s really the only reason there’s failures, because it’s so bumpy.

“Some cars have better ride quality than others. If you look at the Ferrari, Charles’ head and my head, we have a pretty bad ride. It’s bumping around quite a lot because the cars are hitting the deck, it’s not because we are generally just pushing the car too low.”

Hamilton has also categorically denied that Mercedes’ improved run in Austin derived from gaining an advantage from running its W14 car too close to the ground.

“Last year, our car was best when it was low. So we were low and stiff. Our car works better at high ride heights now,” he contended.

“It’s not that we were pushing the car too low, it’s just an unfortunate scenario. 0.05 failure on the rear skid is not the main difference between winning or losing. That area wasn’t the reason we were fastest.

“That’s why it’s just a bit painful for us because if we changed our rear springs for example, perhaps we would have had a better ride. But we are hopeful that the performance will continue this weekend. Just need to make sure that the guys don’t overreact but I think we’ll be fine.”

Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes is finally “going in the right direction” after he narrowly missed out on taking the on-track victory at the United States Grand Prix.

Having pitted later than his rivals, Hamilton was able to mount a charge in the closing stages to overhaul McLaren’s Lando Norris but fell 2.2s shy of beating Max Verstappen.

However, both Hamilton and Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted the side had the potential to beat Red Bull without indecision on the strategy front and two slow pit stops.

But the Briton was enthused by the German marque’s performance at the Circuit of the Americas and hopes the team can perfect those errors if it ends up in a similar position in the remaining four races of this season.

Speaking prior to being disqualified post-race, Hamilton said: “Second is great. To come in this weekend and actually have real strength, it’s a solid second, it’s not just making second, it was a solid second.

“It feels really positive, because we’ve still got a few races up ahead, and I don’t know how the car is going to be in the next races.

“But maybe we’ll be in a position like this and we get the strategy right and get the pit stop right, maybe we’ll be right on their tails and looking at some good racing. So I’m excited.”

Mercedes were boosted by the introduction of an updated floor in Austin that Technical Director James Allison issued would determine if the team is on the “right track”.

After Wolff revealed that “Straight from the get-go in practice one, Lewis said he feels the rear now”, Hamilton concurred that he felt more settled in the W14 around COTA.

Hamilton, though, has relayed caution that Mercedes’ 2023 car retains inherent flaws that can’t be rectified until next season.

Asked if the car was more predictable now: “Yeah, definitely. I think the step that we were able to take this weekend has given me a little bit more confidence in the car to throw it into the corners. So yeah, it was positive.

“I really enjoyed driving around this track. There are still some of the fundamental issues that we’re having with the car, which won’t change until next year.

“But it was really positive as I said to feel that step that we’ve taken. Maybe it was only a tenth upgrade, for example. But there’s at least a tenth of confidence for example that it gave me. So it’s quite interesting, what you see when you have a double knock-on effect.”

Mercedes providing a credible challenge to Red Bull on Sunday left Hamilton feeling “the most positive I’ve felt this year”, despite failing to end his protracted F1 win drought.

However, the seven-time World Champion is wary that Mercedes must avoid a repeat of ending a year on an encouraging note before beginning the next season on the back foot.

The Brackley squad rebounded from a troubled start to 2022 to score a 1-2 in Brazil, but its hopes of returning to title contention this year were dashed from the outset.

“Well, look, we had Brazil last year, all of a sudden we were, I don’t know, we were competitive, and then towards the end again, I think we developed really well and we weren’t necessarily the quickest but we were closer at the end of the year,” he noted.

“But yeah. I think this is definitely the most positive I’ve felt this year, but in general it’s not been a terrible year.

“Just knowing the work that’s happening and being in constant contact with the head of aero and the team back, I feel like everyone is really on their toes and really ready to go.

“There’s lots of things we can improve on in terms of processes, all of us. But I’m excited. I definitely believe we’re going in the right direction.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says it is planning changes to its pitstop procedures after slow tyre changes stymied Lewis Hamilton in the United States Grand Prix.

Before he was disqualified post-race, Hamilton had enjoyed his strongest showing of the 2023 season to date, coming within 2.2s of eclipsing Max Verstappen for victory.

Both Wolff and Verstappen admitted that Mercedes had the potential to win the race without the German marque’s indecision forcing Hamilton to stop later than his rivals.

Although Hamilton agreed with the pair’s assessment, the Briton contended that a sequence of sluggish pit stops had also proved costly to his win chances on track.

“I think in one of the pit stops, I might have been a bit long, which then made it harder for the guys, and then the stop wasn’t that great overall,” Hamilton admitted.

While McLaren delivered a 2.07s stop for Lando Norris and Red Bull’s fastest was timed at 2.45s, Hamilton was left stationary in his pit box for 3.6s and 3.4s respectively.

Mercedes has consistently lagged behind the competition on the pit stop front this year, currently languishing seventh overall on the points standings calculated by DHL.

Furthermore, the Brackley-based squad have not recorded a pitstop that stands within the top 10 fastest of this year, with Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull occupying every spot.

Following its Austin defeat, Wolff declares that Mercedes must rectify its shortcomings, but he has detached blame from the team’s personnel for its repeat pit stop defects.

“Our mindset in the last 12 years, we don’t need to be World Champions in pitstops,” Wolff explained.

“We need to avoid very slow pitstops. And it’s coming to a situation now where we realise that it has got so competitive, and we just need to ramp up our game up there.

“That’s in terms of equipment and science around it, and the way we are set up, to avoid 3 or 3.5 seconds pitstops because all of that played a part.”

Hamilton was disqualified along with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after it was discovered their respective cars did not comply with the regulations on plank wear.

Wolff later acknowledged Mercedes got caught out by a slight misjudgement that the team must accept and “take on the chin”.

Meanwhile, Hamilton remained positive despite losing a podium at the Circuit of the Americas due to the instant progress delivered by Mercedes’ revised floor update.

“I feel positive as we’re moving forward, even if reflecting on it we could have possibly won today,” Hamilton added.

“It is of course disappointing to be disqualified post-race but that doesn’t take away from the progress we’ve made this weekend.”

George Russell insists he is “not concerned” by his struggles in the United States Grand Prix because the Circuit of the Americas has “always been a bogey track for me.”

All weekend, Russell was unable to be on level terms with team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who finished five places and 22s ahead.

Starting fifth, Russell lost out three positions at the start and was only able to recover to seventh, losing out to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez when Mercedes ran long on both stints.

Having admitted earlier this year that his side of the garage had squandered “over 60 points”, Russell believes his Austin weekend encapsulated his entire 2023 campaign.

The Briton suspects that a podium was possible, something only heightened later on when Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified for excessive plank wear.

“Story of the season really, it feels, of missed opportunities,” Russell, who therefore inherited fifth position, lamented.

“On the back foot from the beginning, making a bad start. And then we put a Hard tyre on and we had to manage the fuel, we had to manage the engine a little bit.

“We were about second off the pace and we put the Medium back on and we were the quickest car on track. Closed in on Max [Verstappen] by about 10 seconds and on Lewis by a couple of seconds.

“So standing here, I’m thinking it was definitely another missed opportunity and frustrating we weren’t on the podium.”

Russell has denied that the Sprint format only allocating one practice hour for the drivers to set up their cars contributed to his sizeable performance deficit to Hamilton.

The ex-Williams driver also explains that the bumpy nature of the COTA track makes it an outlier on the F1 calendar, leaving him unperturbed by the troubles he encountered.

“We had that last weekend and it was one of my strongest weekends in Qatar,” he said.

“To be fair, Austin’s always been a bit of a bogey track for me. I’ve always struggled a bit here. It’s probably always been one of his strengths, this circuit.

“But I’m not too concerned because it feels like this is definitely a bit of an outlier with how bumpy it is. Really old tarmac with all the subsidence and cracks around it. So I’m not concerned.”

Instead, Russell attributes his inability to maximise the potential of the car to ending up on the wrong side of “fine margins” at varying points across the race weekend.

“When I look at the pace today, I think that last stint was a really good example of what the potential was,” he highlighted.

“It’s often fine margins. I was off the pace in qualifying and come Q3, the pace was there again. And then on the Medium tyres in Sprint qualifying, I was ahead in SQ1 and SQ2 but then I didn’t have a new tyre in SQ3, so it’s just one of those where we were just on the back foot from the beginning.

“As I said, It just feels like the story of the year. I think last year, I don’t think we ever missed an opportunity probably once in 22 races, whereas this year it feels like 50% of the races we’ve been far from maximising the points.”

Although he was made to rue his own weekend prospects, Russell admits he was “100%” buoyed by the evident progress Mercedes made with its latest floor revision.

Hamilton, who exclaimed on Friday it was the first upgrade he’s felt in two years, utilised the updated W14 to come within 2.2s of usurping Verstappen for the on-track win.

“It’s probably exceeded my expectations this weekend, the upgrade,” Russell expressed.

“It’s definitely exciting, heading into next year, what I think we’ll be capable of achieving. So things are definitely looking in the right step.”