George recovers from lap one drama to return to the top five at the United States Grand Prix.

Due to a number of grid penalties, George lined up from P4 on the Medium Pirelli tyres.

As the lights went out, George got away cleanly from the line but made contact with the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr, sending the Spaniard spinning and earning him a five-

second penalty.

The Brit made early progress, getting past Lance Stroll ahead to move into P3 by lap six before gaining another spot due to an early stop for Lewis Hamilton.

George soon followed his teammate’s lead, diving into the pits on lap 14 to serve his penalty and switch onto the Hard compound tyres and re-joining in P9.

As the rest of the field made their stops, George moved up into P7 before sweeping past Fernando Alonso to take P6.

A spin into the gravel for Valtteri Bottas brought out the first Safety car of the day and George was able to improve one further place as Sebastian Vettel pitted.

Once Bottas’ car was cleared, the Safety car was removed. However, as the race resumed, contact between Alonso and Stroll brought out a second Safety Car.

With the track clear, the race resumed and George maintained his place in P5 until his second stop where he switched to a fresh set of Hards to re-emerge in P7.

Making good use of the new rubber, George quickly made his way by Kevin Magnussen before gaining a further place as Vettel pitted.

In a bid to claim the fastest lap, George pitted for Soft tyres. The Brit delivered a 1:38.788 to clinch the extra point and return into the top five for the first time since

Monza.

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George Russell – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One™ Team Driver

It was a difficult afternoon for me - very unfortunate, how things unfolded at the start as I don't want to be in a position where I contribute to another driver having to retire. It's probably the furthest we've been away from the midfield and the closest we've been to the front for quite a while so a good step forward this weekend. The team back at the factory are doing a great job continuing to update the car, trying to make it a little bit lighter and understanding what we need to work on for next year and that's where most of our focus currently is. Obviously, I want to get back on the podium, because the last time feels like an age ago. We had such a good run of form, but the last couple of races didn't go well in terms of my personal performance. Truly fighting for race wins is still the goal for us. Even if we don't achieve a race win, we want to be in a position where we have a chance to fight for the win.

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