George Russell: Duel with Lewis was good

Mercedes racers took fifth and sixth in Miami, and after the Grand Prix finish, they judged the results ambiguously, noting that the team had not yet been able to remedy the car’s shortcomings.

George Russell (5th): “To be honest, the sensations are ambiguous. If you remember the positions we were in yesterday, fifth place is of course a good result. But if they told me on Friday that we would finish in 5th and 6th place and we would lose that much to the leaders I would be upset.

We have a fast car, but we fail to unlock its potential and we still don’t understand why. In qualifying the car was again prone to rebuilding, it happened unexpectedly and I felt that if I went faster I would have an accident.

Today the picture was not much better, but as the speeds in the race are even lower, the aerodynamic kit worked with less load. It’s frustrating that we still haven’t found a solution, but I have no doubt that it will.

The duel with Lewis turned out to be quite good. Of course if you fight with a partner you leave a little more space on the track but the tarmac is very dirty away from the trajectory and at one point I came out of the track after which I had to go back to position and start the attack again . I think Lewis and I showed mutual respect, but he was just unlucky as he was riding on worn out hard tires that had already completed over 20 laps. He couldn’t do much in this situation.

But the race as a whole was very tough, hot and sweat was literally pouring into my eyes. Speaking of the track, I don’t like the narrow and slow section, and I don’t like the quality of the tarmac either. As for the pros, I loved both the city and the weather.”

Lewis Hamilton (6th): “Certainly after contact on the first lap, the behavior of the car changed somewhat, and I’m sure the team will find out if this was due to any damage. Perhaps the car coped with corners a little worse, although in general everything was fine.

I did everything in my power, but unfortunately we didn’t earn that many points. We must accept such results. Not sure if I could have finished in a higher position had I followed a different tactic. I don’t know who is where on the track, so when the team offers me to make my own choice, I reply that I don’t have enough information to make a decision.

It should be their decision, it’s their job. The team has all the information, all the details, and I trust them. But today they offered me to make the decision myself, and I don’t understand.

I was a bit unlucky because of the appearance of the safety car on track, but at least we earned points. In addition, there were no reliability problems. I would be happy if we make a noticeable step forward at some stage of the season, but so far this has not happened.