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Mercedes takes blame for Russell's poor Mexico GP: We let him down

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted the team let George Russell down at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

By , Sports writer

· 2 min read

George Russell
George Russell (file photo) Photo: Raph_PH / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

George Russell's Mexico City Grand Prix ended in sixth after an energy deployment issue and a collision with Isack Hadjar. Mercedes took blame for the technical problem.

Key takeaways

  • Russell started from the front row at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
  • An energy deployment issue dropped him to sixth by Turn 1.
  • He received a 10-second penalty after tapping Isack Hadjar into a spin.
  • Toto Wolff said the team let Russell down on the first straight.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted the team let George Russell down at Formula 1's Mexico City Grand Prix, held on 1 November 2026 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

What happened

Russell was starting from the front row at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and his initial getaway was good enough to retain that position and take the polesitter's slipstream, but his Silver Arrow encountered an energy deployment issue.

By the time he got to Turn 1, Russell was down to sixth. A few corners later, he was attacking Isack Hadjar but failed to back out going into Turn 6 and tapped the Red Bull into a spin, landing a 10-second penalty.

Russell was sixth again by the time the red flag was waved for Valtteri Bottas' hefty crash, as the penalty dropped him behind Lando Norris, and he failed to make any inroads during the second part of the race.

Wolff's reaction

After the chequered flag, the 28-year-old congratulated team-mate Kimi Antonelli but did not stick around. "I saw George after the race on the FIA scales, and obviously he's distraught about the situation," Wolff said. "It was a great show of sportsmanship to go and see Kimi.

" "Maybe today the race was a little bit a picture of his season. This was a race for him to win. We had the pace in the car and we let him down on the first straight.

" "I'm very much with him, at the moment. I've been in situations where he's very difficult to cope. Him not doing the media work or leaving the track is absolutely understandable. Him staying would have actually surprised me. "

Context

This wasn't the first time a lack of energy deployment caused trouble for Russell; it also happened at Spa-Francorchamps down the Kemmel Straight, leading to a collision with Hamilton.

"Definitely he has had bad luck at some point in the season," Antonelli admitted when asked if Russell would 'give him a big push' in 2027. "He has had a little bit more than me, being honest. "

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