George Russell reveals radio ISSUES have blighted his US Grand Prix weekend

George Russell talking to the press in Monaco — Photo: © LAT Images

United States Grand Prix

Russell reveals radio ISSUES have blighted his US Grand Prix weekend

The Mercedes star struggled during the sprint shootout

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 22 October 2023 02:25

George Russell has revealed radio issues which plagued him during sprint weekend at the United States Grand Prix were 'distracting', as he could only manage eighth in the shootout before being slammed with a penalty.

The Brit has struggled throughout the weekend to keep up with his seven-time world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who started the sprint race and the main race from third, before finishing second in the former.

Mercedes appear to have good pace at the Circuit of the Americas, but Russell had work to do in the sprint race, after being given a penalty for impeding Ferrari's Charles Leclerc meaning he started down in 11th.

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During the event he was hit with another penalty for overtaking Oscar Piastri with all four wheels off the track as he eventually finished eighth.

The 25-year-old was also blighted by some frustrating radio issues during sprint qualifying session, where he could hear all of his engineers talking to each other, as well as providing him with messages during his flying laps.

George Russell has struggled so far throughout the US GP weekend

Lewis Hamilton has managed to comfortably outperform his team-mate George Russell so far throughout the weekend

Mercedes will have their work cut out if they want to beat Ferrari this weekend, with Charles Leclerc claiming pole position

Although managing to fix the problem ahead of SQ3, Russell still struggled to get into the groove, and was beaten by both Ferraris and both McLarens.

Russell: 'It wasn't the perfect session

In the end, Max Verstappen came home to take pole position for Red Bull, with Charles Leclerc backing up his fantastic pole position during Friday qualifying with a second-place start for the sprint race.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Russell revealed the extent of his problems, and how they hampered him throughout the session.

"It was a scrappy session," he said.

"We had a problem with the radio. All the engineers talking in the background, I was hearing on my fast laps and my engineer was coming on and talking to me, so that was distracting.

"In SQ3, I only had used tyres because I used an extra set yesterday. All in all, the lap time wasn't too bad and it wasn't the perfect session."