A disappointed Wolff reflects on 'really painful evening' for Mercedes

Russell was in third place for a long time, but even he could not prevent Oscar Piastri from eventually overtaking. In the end, the British driver just managed to keep Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari behind him, but P4 was all he could manage. Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line in sixth place and was undercut by his teammate.

"It was a really painful, painful evening," Wolff said afterwards. "Positions fourth and sixth...that's not good. Especially when you started 2nd and 3rd. We struggle at the moment with tracks that are hot and hard on traction. It was here and Baku. But this is no excuse. This is just at the moment, not what we expect from ourselves."

Work to do

Russell finished 61 seconds behind Norris, and that difference could have been even worse if Norris had encountered less traffic and didn't reduce his pace as much. "If your quickest car is a minute behind the leader it's just difficult to accept," was Wolff's painful conclusion. In fact, Hamilton finished over 85 seconds behind Norris, almost a full lap.

Mercedes hope to be in a better position in Austin. Last year, Hamilton came second in Texas but was disqualified because his car did not pass the technical inspection. The same applied to Charles Leclerc. Russell ended up finishing fourth instead of sixth as a result.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton