British Formula One driver George Russell finished P5 in the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix after starting from P5. He had previously finished P6 in 2023’s Grand Prix.

Starting strong

George and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team began their weekend in Mexico on the Hard tyre compound.

A red flag early on in the session for debris halted any running temporarily. At the restart, George scaled to the top of the timing tower.

As the track continuously improved, a second red flag was flown. With 24 minutes remaining on the clock when the track went green, George returned to the track on the Soft compound tyre and went fastest again.

George finished the first practice session in P1.

WATCH: 2024 MEXICO CITY FP1 HIGHLIGHTS

Unfortunate end to FP2

The second Free Practice was slightly different to normal, as it acted as a 2025 tyre test for Pirelli. The run plan was defined by Pirelli’s engineers.

George was on his fourth lap of the session when he went off the track at Turn 8 and hit the barrier. George was uninjured and finished the session in P18.

WATCH: 2024 MEXICO CITY FP2 HIGHLIGHTS

Back up to speed

After a mammoth effort overnight from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team to fix his W15 E Performance, George was back on track during FP3.

He began the session on the Medium tyre compound for install checks. After those were complete, he switched to the Soft tyre and initially went fastest.

George finished the final practice session of the weekend in eighth.

WATCH: 2024 MEXICO CITY FP3 HIGHLIGHTS

Third row start secured

Temperatures had dropped slightly due to cloud cover when George hit the track again for Qualifying.

In Q1, George completed his first run on the Medium tyres, crossing the line in P5. A pitstop to swap to the Soft tyre compound saw George improve to fourth. He got through to Q2 in P10.

He began Q2 on a fresh Soft tyre, initially setting a time which put him in third. He completed further runs on the Soft tyre until a red flag cut the second segment short. George progressed into Q3 in P5.

The final segment of Qualifying saw George set an initial lap on the Soft tyre for third. As other drivers completed their laps, George sat in fifth. He was unable to improve his position on his final flying lap of the session.

George set a time of 1:16.356, securing P5.

WATCH: 2024 MEXICO CITY QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS

Points finish in Mexico

George lined up on the grid in P5 on the Medium tyre. In the opening corners, he lost a position to team-mate Lewis Hamilton before the safety car was deployed.

Later in his first stint, George used DRS to take back the position on Lap 15.

On Lap 32, George pitted from P3 to swap onto the Hard tyre. He rejoined in P6.

He continued to make progress into fourth position, but it became clear that George’s front-wing had damage.

In the closing laps of the Grand Prix, George was passed by his team-mate into Turn 1.

George crossed the line in P5.

The 2024 F1 season will resume on 1-3 November for the São Paulo Grand Prix.

WATCH: 2024 MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX HIGHLIGHTS

George Russell, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One™ Team driver:

“I had a strong first stint, but I hit a bump as I overtook the McLaren of Oscar Piastri at the start of my second stint and picked up some front-wing damage. It was definitely costing me a couple of tenths a lap in terms of performance which was a bit of a shame. We had to do over 30 laps carrying that but even without it, we wouldn’t have had the speed to challenge for the podium. Overall, then, P4 and P5 is likely where we deserved to be today as a team and perhaps a little bit better than we thought going into the race.

We will keep working hard to improve as we want to be battling right at the front. We continue to make progress with the car, as you can see with the gap increasing to the teams behind us in the championship. We’ve also closed the gap on Red Bull since the start of the season but it’s clear that Ferrari and McLaren have made even more progress. We will use these final four races of the season to continue building our learning, test different things out, and set ourselves up well for next year.”