George Russell penalised after breaching F1 rules with Brit losing grid position for United States Grand Prix
George Russell will start from the pit lane
PA
George Russell will no longer start from sixth on the grid for the United States Grand Prix after the Mercedes driver was forced to revert to an older car after his crash in qualifying.
Mercedes were initially hopeful of challenging for pole heading into Saturday, but both Russell and Lewis Hamilton struggled to find the sweet spot during qualifying.
Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 while Russell managed to get into the final shootout.
However, Russell crashed hard into the barriers before the end of the session and wrecked his car.
George Russell will start from the pit lane
PA
Sky Sports claim Mercedes were unable to fix his car and Russell will now drive an older specification of the W15.
The change in vehicle is a breach of parc ferme conditions for the race weekend and Russell will now start from the pit lane.
Hamilton suggested he too wanted to start from the pit lane after his disastrous qualifying session.
However, the seven-time world champion will start from P17 on the grid with both Zhou Guanyu and Liam Lawson behind him serving penalties.
No driver has won more races at the Circuit of the Americas than Hamilton, but his last win came back in 2017.
Max Verstappen has reigned supreme in Texas in recent years having won the race in three consecutive seasons.
The Dutchman looked on course to take pole in qualifying before Russell's crash in Q3 stopped him in his tracks.
He has to settle for second on the grid behind title rival Lando Norris, who needs to claw back a 54-point deficit with six races remaining.
George Russell was hoping to start on pole
REUTERSSpeaking after his crash on Saturday, Russell admitted to being bemused at how different his Mercedes car was from the previous day.
“Yeah, I mean, it was just a really difficult session,” Russell explained.
“[Friday] we had a car, both Lewis and I fighting for pole position.
“[Saturday] we were both almost out in Q1 and then I was six-tenths away from pole at the start of Q3.
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REUTERS“I was on a really strong lap. I was five-tenths up at one point, but then it went away from me in Sector 3 and then obviously I had the crash.
“I was really disappointed because the team have worked so hard to bring these upgrades to the car.
“And I was just trying too hard to find something that, in all honesty, wasn’t there and paid the price.
“So, yeah, really quite upset with how that’s ended, but yeah, I don’t know what to say.”