27/10/2024
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton finished P4 with George Russell P5 in Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix. George lined up P5 with Lewis P6, both on the Medium tyre and through the opening corners, Lewis managed to get ahead of his team-mate.
Later in that first stint, George used DRS to regain the position before both cars boxed and cycled ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen who served a 20-second penalty for forcing the McLaren of Lando Norris off track in multiple incidents.
Early in his second stint, it became clear that the top element on George's front-wing had suffered damage. Despite that issue, his pace was still strong and both cars began to edge away from Verstappen behind.
In the closing stages, Lewis passed George for P4 into turn one with his team-mate therefore following him home across the line in P5.
The team now heads to Brazil for the São Paulo Grand Prix, the third race of this Americas triple-header.
Lewis Hamilton: We ultimately moved forward and brought home good points today for the team. We weren't looking so racy in the first stint; I didn't have enough front-wing in the car and was suffering with lots of understeer. We were able to improve the balance at our second stop and our pace got better. Even if we had enjoyed that speed in the first stint though, we still wouldn't have had the pace to challenge those ahead for the podium. P4 and P5 is still slightly better than we predicted today though so we can be pleased with our afternoon.
This hasn't been the smoothest weekend for the team, but we've gathered a lot of information across both specifications. We can now analyse that data and evaluate the best way forward for next weekend in Brazil and the rest of the season. Hopefully we can get the car in a slightly better spot for Interlagos and take the fight to the Ferraris and McLarens.
George Russell: I had a strong first stint, but I hit a bump as I overtook the McLaren of Oscar Piastri at the start of my second stint and picked up some front-wing damage. It was definitely costing me a couple of tenths a lap in terms of performance which was a bit of a shame. We had to do over 30 laps carrying that but even without it, we wouldn't have had the speed to challenge for the podium. Overall, then, P4 and P5 is likely where we deserved to be today as a team and perhaps a little bit better than we thought going into the race.
We will keep working hard to improve as we want to be battling right at the front. We continue to make progress with the car, as you can see with the gap increasing to the teams behind us in the championship. We've also closed the gap on Red Bull since the start of the season but it's clear that Ferrari and McLaren have made even more progress. We will use these final four races of the season to continue building our learning, test different things out, and set ourselves up well for next year.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: Overall, P4 and P5 is likely where we are pace-wise with our car at the moment. On circuits that demand good traction, we are not able to compete with those right at the very front. That is frustrating but we are working hard to bring more performance and build momentum for 2025. These final few races are a good opportunity for us to test different things and put ourselves in as strong a position as possible for next year.
In today's race, George was hindered by front-wing damage which was costing him a good chunk of performance. He still drove strongly, and his pace was decent compared to Verstappen behind. The Red Bull never became a threat to our race after the first pit stop. We also saw that, once he was in free air, Lewis' speed was good on the Hard compound and comparative to those at the front. We now head to Brazil and will be looking to end the triple-header as strongly as possible.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: Without incidents, P4 and P5 is likely the best result we could have brought home today. Once Verstappen picked up his penalty, we believed we would be interacting with him at some point after those first stops. Encouragingly, both George and Lewis had the speed to pull away from him and score solid points. George was hindered when the front wing flap collapsed after he hit a bump during an overtake at the start of the second stint. Despite that, he still maintained good enough pace to bring it home in fifth. We let the drivers race each other throughout; that meant that Lewis' tyres were past their best once he made it into clear air. We didn't get a great read on our ultimate pace but clearly we need to find more speed if we are to challenge right at the very front.
It has not been the smoothest of weekends here in Mexico or at the previous race in Austin. We have learnt a lot as a team though over both Grands Prix. With our position in the Constructors' Championship likely set, we also have the opportunity to further our learning over the final four races. We will continue to do that as we head to Brazil and Interlagos for the final race in this triple-header.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Mexico City here.