F1 News: George Russell looks to fight for victory in Mexico

After a season of playing catch-up to Ferrari and Red Bull, Mercedes will take great satisfaction from their qualifying performance in Mexico.

The Silver Arrows will start from second and third after pushing Verstappen all the way, perfectly positioned to attack the Dutchman and maximise the slipstream effect into turn one.

George Russell took second place despite a sequence of mistakes in his best effort but remains determined to compensate and fight for the win tomorrow.

The youngster explained his session to the media post-session:

“Yeah, the team deserves more today. They produced a really great car this weekend.

“And I think it’s a testament to them for the hard work they’ve been putting in for so long, and we saw last week what the car was capable of. 

“This weekend, we felt like it was our Pole to have, and it was just a terrible lap from my side – so I’m sort of kicking myself. 

“But at the end of the day, [there’s] no points for qualifying, and excited to be back on the front row.”

Toto Wolff echoed a similar sense of frustration post-qualifying, albeit encouraged by the performance of the W13 in Mexico.

Mercedes has introduced a sequence of upgrades to end the season and will be encouraged for what they can deliver in 2023 after their recent upturn in form:

“The Red Bulls are a little bit faster, so if we would have been on Pole, they would have eaten us up on the straights, so we are in a better position.

“But obviously, on Saturday, we’d have liked to have been on Pole…

“But it wasn’t good enough from all of us today. I think after FP2, we had a car that was mega, conditions changed a bit, but it’s not a bad starting position for tomorrow.”