Russell says cautious start cost him P2 in Mexican GP

George Russell reckons that taking a conservative approach at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix likely cost him a second-place finish behind Max Verstappen.

Russell flanked the Red Bull charger who had clinched pole on the front row and he enjoyed a reasonably good launch off the grid, holding his own into Turn 1.

But a tight line into Turn 2 put the Mercedes on the kerb and hampered its momentum which allowed teammate Lewis Hamilton to gain the upper hand, with Sergio Perez then outpacing Russell on the run down to Turn 4.

After losing two positions at the start, the die was cast for Russell.

"I knew I wouldn’t have been able to overtake Max on the outside, but having Lewis on the inside I didn’t want to be too aggressive – obviously being my team mate," explained the Briton.

"Ultimately, that cost me and caused me to lose two positions. So ultimately if I managed to maintain position, I probably would have finished second today."

Russell admitted that had it been any other driver than Hamilton, he would have exerted less caution in the first complex of corners. But his opening lap run-in a week earlier in Austin with Carlos Sainz also encouraged him to play it safe.

"I think it was more in turn one, to be honest, I would have ordinarily just chopped across," he said.

"Or in turn two, I would have ran the driver wide. But that’s way the game works sometimes.

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"I’d like to think it would have been the same had it been the way around – maybe, maybe not. I’m not too sure.

"I’ve had a bit of a scrappy last three races. Too many incidents, too many mistakes. That was probably a factor of taking it too cautiously. There’s a balance in there somewhere."Mercedes opted for a one-stop medium-to-hard strategy for both its drivers, and Russell as well as Hamilton questioned the call during the race.

Russell pondered what may have been had Mercedes followed Red Bull's lead and chosen a soft-to-medium plan, but admitted that "everything's easier in hindsight".

"It would have also been interesting to see how we performed had we started on the soft and gone to the medium," he said.

"Or even if we extended the medium and went to the soft at the end – that was what I was pushing for in the car. Everything’s easier in hindsight."

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