Russell “kicking” himself over “terrible” lap as pole goes begging

Russell led a strong Mercedes challenge to Red Bull in qualifying in Mexico City, but Max Verstappen proved too fast as he took his sixth pole of the year by 0.304s. 

The Briton held on to second place, just 0.05s ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton, but was left frustrated by a costly mistake on his final lap of Q3. 

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Given Mercedes’ performance throughout Saturday, Russell believed it was “our pole to have” but missed out on topping qualifying for the second time this season. 

"The team deserved more today, they've produced a really great car this weekend, and I think it's testament to them for the hard work they've been putting in for so long," said Russell.

"We saw last week Lewis showed what the car was capable of. I feel 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, no points for qualifying and I'm excited to be back on the front row.”

Russell put Mercedes’ most competitive qualifying showing of a troubled 2022 so far down to the unique, high-altitude nature of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit. 

"With this high altitude, the drag is less of a factor, and that is where we get outscored by Red Bull, let's say," said Russell.

"They're always taking like three tenths out of us on the straight. Here it's less of a factor, so that's probably why we're a little bit more competitive.”

And with a two-pronged Mercedes attack against Verstappen, Russell hopes the team will have a “reasonable shot” of challenging for their first win of the season. 

"Having Lewis at the front gives us the chance to do something different with the strategy," he added. "We'll see what we can do."