George Russell believes carrying fuel for an extra preparation lap cost him pole position for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver missed out on pole by just 0.009 seconds to Lewis Hamilton on Saturday, with the pair starting ahead of their teammates Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli - the latter of which can seal the drivers' title with a ninth place finish on Sunday.

Speaking during the post qualifying press conference, Russell stated that he felt he could get his tyres ready without the additional lap. However, the team preferred to retain the preparation lap meaning his car carried the extra fuel required to complete it.

Russell rues extra fuel after narrow pole miss

Speaking after the session, Russell said he noticed how Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen opted against doing preparation laps and that his gut opinion was that he could put in a time on lap one without any preperation.

He added: “But the team wanted to do the prep. We ended up carrying the fuel for an extra lap. You know, it’s such a small number, but it’s bigger than the gap to pole.

“So it’s obviously, you always think retrospectively, if only we had the one lap of fuel rather than the extra lap of fuel like we had, we’re going to be on pole.”

Despite the frustration of missing out, Russell took encouragement from his performance following a difficult run.

“But, you know, I’m very grateful to be in this position because it’s been a tough run. I know it’s in there. I’ve never doubted that it’s in there. It’s just understanding why this season we can’t achieve it as consistently as I have done in the past.”

Russell could keep the championship alive into Brazil, but only if he wins the Mexico City Grand Prix and his teammate Antonelli finishes below ninth - a very tall order for the British driver.