The stewards fined Mercedes €5,000 (£4,173) after George Russell refused to speak to media following yesterday’s Mexican Grand Prix.
Russell expressed more frustration with his power unit during yesterday’s race after losing three places at the original start. He did not speak to media after the race, in which his team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli clinched the world championship.The stewards noted Russell “left the circuit without attending the post-race media commitments” and also failed to attend their hearing. “Noting that the stewards can proceed to make a determination in the case of a non attendance at a hearing, a penalty of €5,000 is imposed on the competitor.”
In a statement issued by Mercedes after the race, Russell said: “Unfortunately, it was a very disappointing race on my side.
“I made a good start and was in a strong position, but then we suffered an issue which caused me to not have full deployment down the straight. That cost us a lot of positions and ultimately took us out of contention for a strong result. It’s frustrating to have the race compromised by something outside of my control but that is racing.”
Russell also collected a 10-second time penalty during the race for colliding with Isack Hadjar.
He congratulated Antonelli on “a thoroughly deserved championship” victory. “He has done a fantastic job this season and can be incredibly proud of what he has achieved.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said it had been “another race where we didn’t give [Russell] the platform to show what he could do.”
“The deployment issue at the start immediately compromised his afternoon and, although the incident and penalty made his race more difficult, he kept fighting and brought the car home in [sixth],” said Wolff. “There have been too many occasions this season where we have let George down, and he has deserved more from us.
“His contribution to what we have achieved this year has been immense, and we shouldn’t lose sight of that today.”
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