Russell explains skipping Mexico media after tough race

George Russell has explained why he skipped his post-race media duties in Mexico City, saying another costly setback left him needing to get out. He had been in contention for victory after qualifying just 0.009 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton, but a deployment problem ruined his start and contact with Isack Hadjar brought a 10-second penalty. He finished sixth.

Team-mate Kimi Antonelli secured the world championship with third place, becoming the youngest world champion in F1 history. Russell said the contrast within the Mercedes team made an already difficult Sunday harder to process.

Speaking in Sao Paulo ahead of the next Grand Prix, Russell said the season had been a run of setbacks. He said a review with his race engineer showed trouble in 14 races this season, against only six trouble-free weekends, and that he had never had this many setbacks in his career.