How close can Mercedes get to Red Bull? 'Updates worked well'

In the United States, Russell eventually achieved fifth place - thanks in part to disqualifications from Charles Leclerc and teammate Lewis Hamilton. Not a great result on the face of it, but still satisfaction prevails for the Brit. He speaks highly of the new parts on his W14.

"The upgrades were performing really well, and I think that was clear with the performance," Russell said ahead of the weekend in Mexico. That there wasn't more in it had to do with something else. "We had some limitations on my side. I didn’t have enough fuel and was having to manage the fuel for half of the race. That really put me on the back foot. But the last stint, we just sort of went for it and the pace was probably the strongest out there. Definitely bodes well for the end of the season."

Russell in Mexico

Last season, Russell set a second-fastest time (three-tenths behind Max Verstappen) in qualifying at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez Circuit. He started fourth, with Hamilton crossing the line second (15 seconds behind Verstappen). What are the expectations at the German team in 2023? Can they do better than last year?

"The car was performing really well last year. On paper, I'd say this circuit suits us better than the likes of Austin, Qatar and Japan of which were still pretty competitive too, so I wouldn't say we have high hopes here, but I think it should suit us slightly better. A bit of an unknown going to the C5 compound this year compared to the C4 last year, but now we're feeling optimistic going into these two races," he added.

Russell has at least one less free practice than teammate Hamilton to fine-tune his car. The 25-year-old driver relinquished his seat in FP1 to Frederik Vesti, four years younger, part of Mercedes' junior programme.

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