Could there have been more for Russell? 'That cost him in this Grand Prix'

George Russell saw his chance of a podium finish in Mexico disappear in the first few corners, after being overtaken by both Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez. According to Jolyon Palmer, there would otherwise have been more in it for the Mercedes driver, who at times set faster lap times than his teammate.

After the exciting qualifying session for the Mexican Grand Prix, expectations for the race were high. In the end, however, Mercedes could do little against Max Verstappen's pace. Palmer thinks there would have been more in it for Russell had the Mercedes driver got through the first lap better. However, he allowed himself to be lapped by Hamilton, after which he was also immediately grazed by Perez.

"That really cost George Russell in this Grand Prix, because his pace was very similar to Lewis Hamilton, maybe even slightly quicker at times. But stuck behind Checo in the first stint, the gap just extended," Palmer said in his analysis for Formula1.com.

The former Formula 1 driver noted that the difference between Red Bull Racing and Mercedes on the straight was not that big at all. This was evident from the lap times in the first stint, in which Verstappen failed to pull a gap to Hamilton.

That changed after the pitstops, where Red Bull chose the better strategy by changing to mediums. Mercedes put both drivers on hard tyres and thus cut themselves in half when it turned out that the mediums made it effortlessly to the end of the race.