Russell calls out 'too slow' Mercedes after indecisive team orders

A chaotic opening lap at the Mexican Grand Prix would see Russell lose a position to rival Max Verstappen at the first corner, with the Dutchman forced wide through the grass, re-joining ahead of Russell at Turn 3.

After an incident between Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen, Russell would find himself in fifth place behind Haas' Oliver Bearman in third, and Antonelli in fourth position. The Briton eventually came over the radio asking to swap positions with Antonelli, who had struggled to overtake Bearman.

Russell explained: "I was in his DRS train, so when my tyres were in a good place, I was ready to attack, and ultimately, we left it too long, and by that point, there was no need to swap positions. Either do it straight away or not at all."

Russell was told by race engineer Marcus Dudley that he was 'free to race' Antonelli, therefore meaning there would be no instruction for Antonelli to let Russell through, but this decision was later overturned as Mercedes did then instruct Antonelli to let Russell through, after the Italian fell out of DRS range of Bearman.

However, Russell would then struggle to close the gap to Bearman, which sat at around two seconds. Eventually, Russell and Antonelli were overtaken by Piastri, and were both unable to keep up with the Australian, who was also unsuccessful in overtaking Bearman, who set a best finishing record for Haas with fourth.

This left Mercedes to finish in sixth and seventh place.

Russell continued: "We need to sit down and talk as a team. Ultimately, I'm not battling Kimi in a championship or a fight, we're battling Ferrari and Red Bull for the [runner-up spot in the] championship, and we finished P6 and P7, and it could have worked out differently."  

Whilst McLaren wrapped up the Constructors' championship back in Singapore, the race for second in the standings is extremely close, with just 10 points separating Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

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