George Russell says a fast-charging Daniel Ricciardo would have passed him for sixth at the end of the Mexican Grand Prix had the race lasted an extra lap.
Russell had settled into fifth place in the second half of the 71-lap event that became a two-part affair due to a red flag triggered by Kevin Magnussen’s massive crash on lap 34.
However, in the closing stages of the race, Russell lost a position to McLaren’s Lando Norris before he was put under pressure by Ricciardo.
On the race’s final lap, the AlphaTauri driver attempted an attack on his Mercedes rival at Turn 4 but Russell was able to resist the onslaught, although just.
“For sure one more lap he would have done it,” said Russell who praised Ricciardo for his solid run in the points in Mexico.
“He’s had a really great weekend, really happy to see him performing well and he deserves it.”
Russell had sparred earlier with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz as the pair battled for fourth. But soaring brake temperatures compelled the Mercedes driver to lift which in turn impacted his tyre temps and dropped him into the jaws of Norris.
“The race dictated our tyres,” he explained. “Once again the car felt really strong, right behind Carlos, just couldn’t quite make the overtake.
“But we had to back off because 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 and I could never recover it.
“It was like driving on ice for the last 15 laps, and a pretty miserable feeling and very lucky to finish P6.
“It’s never fun when you’re the defending driver on the back foot,” he added. “Again, I was just really struggling 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 it.
“I’m not sort of too concerned because I know the reason for it. But it’s been two race weekends in a row for two different reasons, last week was the fuel and I lost the tyres because I backed off to manage the fuel.
“This weekend it was the brakes and that’s at least some clarity.”
At the height of their fight, Russell had been vocal over the radio about Sainz’s weaving and defensive tactics.
But when all was said and done, Russell played down the Spaniard’s moves.
“The rules are pretty clear,” he explained. “It wasn’t aggressive or substantial movement, but once he’d braked he was moving to sort of cover me and when you brake from such high speeds it’s very easy to lock up. But no concerns with that one.”
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