British Formula One driver George Russell finished P6 at the 2024 United States Grand Prix after starting from the pit lane. The day before, he secured fifth in the Sprint. He’d previously finished fifth in 2023’s Grand Prix.

One practice to get up to speed

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

George experienced a few slight moments through the session before switching to the Soft tyre.

Finishing the weekend’s only Free Practice session in seventh, it was straight into Sprint Qualifying for George.

WATCH: 2024 UNITED STATES FP1 HIGHLIGHTS

Front row start after close Sprint Qualifying

George safely got through to SQ2 after placing sixth in SQ1. In SQ2, he secured P5 and progressed through to the final Sprint Qualifying segment.

After a strong lap in SQ3, just 12 thousandths of a second separated George from pole, ultimately qualifying P2.

WATCH: 2024 UNITED STATES SPRINT QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS

Top five finish in the Sprint

Starting from the front row on Medium tyres, George unfortunately lost a place to Lando Norris on the opening lap. Later into the lap, George was under pressure from Charles Leclerc behind, but ultimately, George was able to hold onto P3.

By Lap 6, George was looking to overtake Norris for P2.

George held P3 until halfway through the race, when he was passed by both Ferraris whose car had better pace. This placed George in P5, picking up four points.

WATCH: 2024 UNITED STATES SPRINT HIGHLIGHTS

Unfortunate end to Qualifying

With three minutes to go of Q1, George was in P17 and getting ready to begin another lap.

After successfully improving on his time, George went through to Q2 in fourth.

George was safely through to Q3. However, on his second Q3 run on fresh Softs, he went off the track at Turn 19 and hit the barrier. George was uninjured and finished the session in P6.

WATCH: 2024 UNITED STATES QUALIFYING HIGHLIGHTS

Pit lane to points

Following damage to the car, George had to start the Grand Prix from the pit lane. He opted to begin on the Hard tyre.

He was up to P17 following a Safety Car on Lap 3.

After an overtake on Lap 13, George picked up a five second penalty. He then made a series of overtakes, putting him P12 by Lap 18.

As drivers around him began to pit, George made up further places. He was running in sixth when he made the decision to pit at the end of Lap 40. After serving his penalty, George rejoined the track with Medium tyres in P8.

George made a strong overtake on Nico Hülkenberg on Lap 44 into Turn 1, securing P7 and closing in on Sergio Pérez in P6.

On Lap 54, George briefly overtook Pérez who later reclaimed the position. However, two laps later, George made the move stick.

George finished the race in P6 after an excellent recovery drive, having started from the pit lane, and claimed eight points.

The 2024 F1 season will resume on 25-27 October for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

WATCH: 2024 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX HIGHLIGHTS

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

I was pleased with how today went from my side. We didn’t know what the race would bring in terms of opportunities but going from the pit lane to P6, and finishing ahead of Red Bull, meant that we made the best of a difficult situation. We had good pace throughout, in particular on the Hard compound tyre. We were able to extend that first stint and give ourselves fresher rubber with which to attack in the closing laps.

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